The Road to Kirkwall
by jrules
Summary: This is the story of female Hawke mage before the events of Kirkwall that made her the chamption, she is captured by Tevinters only to meet a certain lanky tattooed elf
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Running

She wasn't sure how long she had been running now, but it seemed like months, years even, she felt like she had aged a lifetime, but in reality it had only been six months give or take. Running seemed like the only thing that would hold the fragile pieces of her sanity in place. How had it all gone so bad and crazy so fast. She found a quiet spot in the middle of the shadowy forest, amist the ancient pine trees and stopped for a while to collect her thoughts. The forest was beautiful here, so thick and green, lush with ferns of all kinds, very little light made it through to the forest floor and she noticed that what sky she could see was taking on the orange and reds of coming twilight. She was so tired, her body needed rest, she knew that, but, resting and thinking would bring on memories that she wasn't ready to deal with yet. She had no choice though so she found a quiet spot to eat the bit of bread and cheese that she had left from her stay with the Dalish not too far from here.

She had stumbled into them during her flight from Lothering, they too were fleeing the blight and even though she was a Shemlan they let her stay with them for a while. The keeper seemed to take pity on her, she probably looked a sight with her leather armour covered in blood and muck, her twin blades strapped to her back, and her wild unruly black hair flying everywhere. When she first found them they would have killed her, but they, like everyone else in Ferelden had more important things to worry about than a scared girl running from the darkspawn (not too mention the memories of them). The keeper had been kind, allowing her to rest, replenish her supplies, and some of the elvhen had even been kind to her. One in particular seemed to show an unusual amount of interest in her, Zevran was his name. He wasn't Dalish himself, but he too found himself traveling out of ferelden and seemed pleasant enough company, at least at first.

Zevran had to be the smoothest talking man she had ever met, not that she had much experience with men at her young age. He had the most pleasant accent she had ever heard and for some reason those big round eyes of his made her heart skip when he turned that full gaze on her and attempted to get her into his bed. She resisted though, she knew that she could not allow herself into a situation that would involve letting her guard down. She could not let anyone see that she was a mage. The keeper had known, she knew the first moment she laid eyes on her, but she didn't say anything.

Zevran had been traveling back to Antiva, his homeland. He had invited her to go with him and even suggested that she might be able to find work with the Crows, but she had refused his offer. Maybe she would eventually find herself in Antiva and look for him, but for now, running seemed more important.

To most people she gave the appearance of a rogue, what with the armour and her twin blades, she only showed her abilities as an arcane warrior when she had no other choice. She could not risk being noticed by Templars, even if they too were busy fighting darkspawn. She didn't want to temp fate and end up locked in the tower, or worse, being made tranquil or some such stupid thing that templars are known for.

Her father had taught her from a very young age to be wary of showing her abilities. It was how she managed to go unnoticed from the sight of templars, most of the time anyway. Her father had been a skilled arcane warrior, able to use both spells and a blade during battle and he had taught her everything he knew about it. Solona Hawke, sighed, this line of thinking would only make her heart hurt if she continued, but she found that she couldn't help but think of her father, her family.

She climbed into one of the larger oak trees that she could find and used the fabric from an old tent to form a sort of hammock that would allow her a few hours rest. She had learned from her time spent running that sleeping on the ground in the open could be a very dangerous thing indeed. There were other things roaming the forest besides darkspawn and for now, this was the safest place. She closed her eyes and images of her family filled her thoughts.

Her family had been living on the outskirts of Lothering for several years, they had stayed there longer than anywhere else she could remember. Her father had gotten tired of the constant moving, and here they had made a home in a small farming community. Not many people passed by so it was relatively safe for her apostate father, herself, and her siblings. Her mother had tended a small garden out in the back to provide fresh vegetabes and she was a skilled seamstress so she could usually find work making chantry robes or doing repairs to clothes for the more wealthy families in the area. It was not the easiest life, but they were all happy to be able to stay in one place for more than just a short time. Well, almost all of them were happy.

Her younger brother Carver complained almost constantly, no not complained, he whined. Maker help her she shouldn't think bad about him after everything that happened, she shook her head and tried to think of happier memories something that would soothe the constant ache in her heart.

Carver was the only of her siblings to be born with no magic and he reminded her of it almost daily. He was forever complaining about having to remain in the background for fear that a templar would come snooping around and they would have to move yet again. Her mother tried to soothe him telling him that he should be thankful for having such an accomplished mage for a sister and a father, but that usually made things worse. He hated the fact that he was the only warrior in a family of mages. He frequently went to the Lothering chantry to spar with the knights there. They indulged him because of his youth and he had even talked the Knight Commander into taking him on as a squire. His skills with a greatsword were impressive, even if he was a bit rash and tended to get wild with his swings when he was angry, which for Carver was most of the time. She remembered one time when he came back from one of his sparring matches. His brown eyes glinted, and he told her that he had been accepted with a tone of great pride.

"the knight commander says I have skill and that they can use my blade against the coming blight" Carver said, Solona had been happy for him, he had been trying to get them to accept him for a long time and now, with war approaching, they took any that could swing a blade. Though she dared not tell him that.

"Maker help us, no!" Yelled her mother when she found out. But Carver had been insistent and he was of age to make his own decisions after all. But, that was before everything had unraveled. Finally sleep over took her as she listened to an owl hooting in the background. It soothed her aching body and mind and she slept without dreaming for the first time in a long time.

She awoke to first light, feeling somewhat refreshed after a night without dreams, without screaming to wake the entire forest. She gathered her meager supplies and headed North again. She wasn't even sure why, but North was away from the darkspawn. She stuck mainly to the forest but found that it was beginning to thin and she knew she would have to get back on the roads soon enough.

The roads North were full of other refugees fleeing the darkspawn. Their sad faces revealed that they had seen death and destruction as well. Though she wondered if any of them had to witness the death of her entire family like she had. She was feeling very sorry for herself at the moment and wondering where in the world she would end up when she came upon a group of mercenaries looking to join the army at Ostagar. She was wary of them, but there was safety in numbers when traveling on the roads.

Days turned into nights and she found her thoughts wandering back to her family again, this time she thought of her younger sister, Bethany. She was Carver's twin, but she couldn't have been more different from him than night is from day. While Carver was sulking and usually angry, Bethany was bright and always cheerful. She always found a way to see the good in things and she always managed to brighten Solona's moods by her mere presence. Oh how she would miss Bethany, her sweet younger sister. Bethany was a mage, just like she was, but she didn't have the ability with knives the way Solona did and so could never train in the arcane arts with their father.

After a time Solona found herself just outside Denerim, trying to decide what to do. She could replenish her supplies and plan on which direction to go next. She really had no idea. Was there anywhere safe from the darkspawn or templars? She decided that she wanted to see the ocean first, and it wasn't far. She had never been this far North before. That was her first mistake.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok so I am new to this fanfiction thing and forgot to mention that Bioware owns all characters, yada yada yada, I do not own them. I am merely using their characters to get this story out and find that I have enjoyed writing it, I hope that others will enjoy reading it as well.

Captured

As she traveled on toward the ocean she came upon a caravan of travelers and decided to see if they had supplies she could barter for. The people had several wagons and looked like they might have extra supplies. She did not look to closely at the group traveling with the wagons though; if she had she might have noticed sooner that they were very heavily armed for refugees. She realized her mistake quickly though.

They spotted her and several of the armed men encircled her, their weapons drawn before she had time to slip away unnoticed. "Oi, the biggest and ugliest one of them said, who might you be little girl, and what are you doing out on the road alone?" he said with a sneer and a glint in his eye that she didn't like.

"I'm just heading for Denerim to meet my brother and his family" she lied. "I don't want any trouble.

"Well, well, well, he said, I'm afraid you found it anyway"

His accent was strange, she didn't think she had ever heard it before, and now that she had a look at the armed men surrounding her, she didn't recognize their amour either. They didn't look like they were ferelden. She didn't have time to think about much after that though, as they started to move in on her. Damn, she thought, there are too many of them, magic may be the only thing that can help me escape.

The big ugly one with the short black beard, and small hard eyes yelled at them "Grab her and throw her in with the others, maybe we can get a few extra soverins for some tender girl flesh" and he grinned. She threw a cold spell at three of them and stopped them in their tracks. The big ones eyes lit up and she had no choice but to continue to throw spells at them, slashing with her double edged daggers as she went. She managed to take down five of them, but more came running from the caravan and before she could stop it, one of them got close enough to hit her full force on the back of the head and then everything went black.

She awoke screaming, the nightmares had returned. Something hit her hard on her arm and she began to come to her senses. The first thing that hit her was the smell, vomit, sweat, and piss. How lovely she thought. She was still shaking from the intensity of the nightmare, but she had to focus, where was she? Her eyes were still adjusting to the dim light when she realized that her arms were cuffed behind her back and the ground was swaying. She was wearing some sort of collar, no it was a thick iron band around her neck that was connected to a chain. Her mind struggled to make sense of the situation. By the way the ground was swaying beneath her she guessed was on some kind of ship? How could that be? What have I gotten myself into she thought, she hadn't realized that she said it aloud and a voice nearby said "You are on a slave ship bound for the market in Minrathus" She turned to look at the person who spoke, but her eyes still would not focus. She was also hungry, her arms hurt, and her head was screaming at her like she had been hit with a sledgehammer, oh, that's right, she was hit in the back of the head, and it had felt like a sledgehammer at least. She had been fighting with those men and then woke up here.

That was when she noticed that she was one of many, there were other people here all of them chained in what appeared to be the hold of a ship. There were humans, elves, women, even children. Her belongings were taken from her, she panicked for a moment, did she still have the amulet of protection her father had given her? Yes, it was still there and she still had a few other trinkets from her life in Ferelden in her pockets, and on her person, at least she hoped so. She heard someone snoring in the distance. She turned to look at the one who had spoken to her and she came to realize that he was an elf. He had the high cheekbones and delicately pointed ears that slanted toward the back of his head, as her eyes adjusted to the gloom she noticed that his eyes were amber. All elves had very large eyes, and the coloring seemed to her to be deeper, richer, and more expressive than those of humans. Though she thought that all elves had green eyes like those of the Dalish she met in her travels. This man did not have the tattoos that were common to the Dalish, she had been told that the tattoos were a sign of coming of age in the clan and all Dalish wore them with pride. The mans mouth turned down into a frown and she realized that she had been staring at him, she turned away quickly.

She heard crying coming from somewhere behind her. She turned around saw that it came from a small child who couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old. Maker! She thought, the poor thing. She looked around but there were no other women nearby who could have been her mother and none of the others seemed to be paying her any attention. Hawke squirmed in her shackles and brought her arms underneath her legs until her arms were in front of her and scooted closer to the child. She reached out to her and the tiny thing looked up at her through her sobs through matted dirty hair with such a pitiful look on her face that Hawke felt her heart flutter at the sight. Who would steal such a child from their family? Heartless Bastards! She studied the child further and gasped as she saw black and gray swirls surrounding the child. She knew that no one else could see it; it was a "gift" of her magic that she could tell when a person was near death. The child was dying and probably would not make it to their intended destination. She could always tell when someone was near death. The girl was sickly looking, her skin ghostly pale, her veins pronounced, and she had fits of coughing in between sobs. She knew she had to do something to ease the child's suffering.

"Do you want me to tell you a story?" She asked the girl. She nodded her head slightly. Hawke thought of the bedtime stories her father used to tell her when she was growing up and decided to tell one of a princess who was locked in a tower guarded by dragons and then rescued by a knight in white amour. It had always been her favorite anyway. She began weaving the story, adding lots of embellishments for the girls' benefit and as she spoke she noted that the hold of the ship had quieted as if others were listening to her story. The child lay her head in Hawke's lap and she stroked her hair as she spoke. It was the least she could do to ease her suffering. After a time as her story neared an end she could tell that the girl had fallen into a fitful sleep. She twitched and groaned while Hawke stroked her dirty matted hair. Something nagged at Hawke's mind, could she let loose a small portion of her healing magic into this child to allow her to rest and to dream before death came for her? She looked again at the child's aura and saw that the blackness surrounding her had grown darker, swirling now with all the colors of the rainbow, it would not be long. Hawke risked it, she focused her mind and held both hands on the child as she allowed a small healing spell to enter her. Her hands warmed and she felt the magic enter her sleeping form. "That was a nice thing you did" came the voice of the elf that had spoken to her before. Her head shot up and Hawke had a moment of panic. Had the man seen her use magic? "What" she said, "the story" he replied. "Oh, it wasn't much" was all she could think to answer. She returned to stroking the child's hair, happy to see that her breathing was even and calm now. Well at least her last dreams would be of princesses and knights she thought. After a time Hawke herself became tired and lay down as best she could near the girl.

Hawke's mind was struggling with exhaustion and starvation and she found that she could not tell if it was night or day. Someone came down the line with bits of bread and water at least once a day but it was not near enough to satisfy her hunger. She had periods of unconsciousness and at one point she awoke to see that the girls body had been removed from the collar. It saddened her greatly to see a child thrown away like an old shoe that had been disposed of when its usefulness had run out. She tried not to think about what would happen to her when she reached her destination.

The journey was long, how long she couldn't say, but eventually the ship docked and the human cargo was unloaded to be sorted according to what kind of price they could bring. They were dragged into the center of a giant city, All chained together in a line like cattle being led to the slaughter she thought. The city was even larger than Denerim by her guess, but it was all cold and hard lines and ugly she thought. There was nothing green she noticed, no trees, not even a patch of grass. All around her she smelled fear, her fellow Fereldens tired and hungry and some of them sick. Maker but it was hot here! The sun felt scorching already and it was difficult for her to take a proper breath. The slaves weren't even allowed to sit down while they waited to be auctioned off. The sun was high in the sky and as time dragged on some of the chained slaves fell to the ground. They were forced back onto their feet and those in front and behind them had to help them stand upright. After a time Hawke felt her knees growing weak and she started to wobble in the heat. The elf that had spoken to her on the ship moved forward and allowed her to lean on him slightly to avoid falling over. One by one they were dragged by their individual chains to the center of the market for sale. The big ugly brute that had captured her was still there and he leered at her "You are going to make me some good coin today bitch" he said as he leaned close to her, she could smell him, the sweat, dirt , and smell of rotting teeth, it made her want to retch. Not that she had any food in her stomach to bring up. The slavers barked orders in some strange language, which she could not understand, and then it was her turn. Her chain was unhooked from the others and she was led onto a dais in front of more people than she even thought existed. She was afraid to look, but found that she couldn't help it. When she saw all those people, most of them dressed in mage robes she was suddenly more scared than she had been in a long time.

She was painfully aware of the fact that there were few women here and she shivered to think what kind of man would buy her. She knew the effect she had on men, Hawke was told many times how strikingly beautiful she was. Long thick black hair that tended to be unruly, dark eyelashes that framed eyes of striking blue, and pale skin. Her features marked her as ferelden she knew. She doubted anyone could see that now though, she was covered in muck and dirt from head to toe, her hair matted, and she stank! She could not remember the last time she had been allowed to wash properly. Maybe this would work to her advantage, who knows. She would just have to bide her time until the opportunity to escape presented itself.

She heard a voice in the common tongue saying "the best for last, a ferelden barbarian, not only is she lovely to look upon, but she is schooled in the magic arts as well as a blade." The room hushed and someone yelled out "that can't be true, there are precious few arcaine warriors left in the world and she is but a child", the other man yelled back that indeed she was. She knew that her captors had seen her using magic, but now she knew why they had been so excited at the prospect of capturing her. The bidding began and Hawke began to feel dizzy, everything was becoming surreal, she wasn't a slave. The voices blended together in her head and she couldn't even really hear them anymore, she grew lightheaded and dizzy, she thought that she might pass out from fatigue and lack of food. She vaguely realized that she was being led away by the chains on her neck, but not much more. Her mind was slipping away from her and she had become an automaton. Dutifully putting one foot in front of the had become a chore, her feet seemed to move of their own will.

She came to her senses much later when she was being dragged inside the biggest house she had ever seen. It was bigger than a castle and decorated in the most gaudy of styles. She was still weak from hunger and her journey and barely noticed that she was on a chain and being led.. Everything still had the feeling of a dream and she hoped that she would soon wake up. From somewhere far off she heard a man saying, "take her to the slave chambers reserved for the newest of our household and allow her to rest and eat, I will evaluate our newest purchase later. She seems like she will fall over at any minute." That was certainly true, Hawke became aware that she was swaying on her feet and the strain she had endured these past weeks was threatening to overwhelm her.

By newest member of the household she guessed it meant "most likely to try to escape" by the looks of things, it was a cell, barely big enough to hold a cot. Firm hands pushed her down onto the rickety cot, unleashed her chain leaving the collar on and then pushed her so that she would lie down. It didn't take much effort, she felt as if a slight breeze would have made her fall over and even though the cot offered little, she closed her eyes and exhaustion overtook her.


	3. Chapter 3

I made a few changes to chapter 2 (I am anal when it comes to mistakes!) They are very small and mostly grammatical errors. As always Bioware owns all, I am merely borrowing the characters to hijack them into my own story! If you have suggestions on how you would like the story to progress please review, I am interested in hearing your thoughts.

Chapter3 Dreams

Hawke found herself once more in the Fade. She didn't like it here; it was one of the things she liked least about being a mage. Mages were the only ones who were able to enter the realm of dreams and spirits while their bodies remained firmly in the living world. This was the realm of demons and spirits, shadows of the dead sometimes lingered here on their journey to wherever they traveled to after death. This was where mages were their most vulnerable. Demons would offer to grant a mage's most heartfelt desires so that they could find their way into the world of the living. Most times the fade was a terrifying place, but sometimes, it could reveal glimpses of insight.

She steeled her mind against the challenges she expected to face; she would not give in to the temptation of a demon. Her father had taught her that all demons lie, it was the only way they had to get what they desperately wanted. She observed the eerie landscape. Things in the fade were fuzzy, out of focus; it was difficult to find your way back out at times because the doorway was often hidden. She had heard stories of mages getting trapped in the fade, never able to find the exit. It made her shiver to think of staying in this strange place for eternity. It was barren and desolate, filled with strangely twisted landscapes, trees that seemed to grow upside down with their branches extending downward into the ground and the trunk lifting skyward to reveal its roots curling into the sky which itself was a strange orange color. Never blue like the skies of Ferelden. She wandered a bit trying to get her bearings and find the exit quickly. She didn't like to stay longer than she had to.

As she followed the path that seemed most likely to lead to the way out she came upon a woman. Looking closely as she approached she realized it was not completely human, or anything that she could quickly identify. The woman was dressed in black armor that covered her chest and arms. The gauntlets on her arms led to vicious looking talons on her fingers, if that was the right word. When she looked up she saw that the woman had horns on either side of her head and her hair was pure white. The horns were the same color and she wondered if they were truly horns, or hair that had been shaped to look that way. The thing before her had yet to acknowledge her presence and was standing just a few feet in front of her with her eyes closed. Did it know she was there? Perhaps she could go back the way she came to avoid dealing with her. As she turned to leave the woman creature suddenly spoke in a deep husky voice "you won't get anywhere if you go down a path you have already traveled, but then you know that already don't you?" Hawke turned back to look at her, her eyes had opened to reveal iris's that were a deep golden yellow. Strange, Hawke thought, this is nothing like anything I have seen in the fade before.

They regarded each other for a moment; Hawke knew that this was no ordinary demon or shadow, as those yellow eyes silently studied her she had the feeling that her soul was laid bare for the creature to see. She felt naked before that gaze and she was becoming increasingly nervous. She gathered her nerve to speak "who or what are you?" The woman smirked at her and said, "Now, is this how you were taught to act when meeting someone, or are you truly the _barbarian_ others believe you to be?" Hawke was unsure how to proceed, "well we are in the fade, in my dream are we not, so I'm sure you already know who I am, the questions still remains though, who are you." The woman tilted her head back and laughed heartily, "oh, you are a clever one you are, but how do we know it is your dream, perhaps you are in mine." She said as she raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. This was getting stranger by the minute, Hawke decided to play along.

"Very well" she sighed, "my name is Hawke, is there something that you want of me" she wanted this creature to get to the point already. If it was a demon in disguise she knew it would have little patience and would demand to be allowed entrance into the mortal world and in exchange it would offer her something. The something always changed, but that was usually the way it worked in the fade. Once this was done she could kill it and continue on her way to find her exit.

"No time for pleasant conversation, are you in such a hurry to return to your body then? I would think that a brief visit to the fade would be welcomed considering what you have to return to." The creature said in return, she laughed again, "very well, my name is Flemeth and I am here because you have reached a crossroad in your life. You see behind me two roads, each of them will take your future self into very different directions, would you like to know where each path leads, hmm?" Hawke looked into those odd yellow eyes and wondered how much truth was in this woman's words. She had never come across anything like this before and decided she would let Flemeth have her say before she decided what she would do. "What must I do in return for the information?" Hawke said.

"Well, other than choosing which path to take, there is nothing that I want of you, now do you wish me to tell you, few mortals are given this choice and it would be wise of you to take advantage of the opportunity." "Do you swear that you will expect nothing in return if I listen to what you have to say" Hawke asked. "I have already said I want nothing of you" she spat out her answer, it seemed as if the creature was beginning to lose patience with her.

"Tell me then and I will listen to what you have to say" Hawke said. Flemeth smiled wide and said "wise choice, the path to the left is shorter than the one on the right, you will not travel it long before you return here as a spirit, it is also the easier path to take as there are less twists and turns and less pain involved." She continued "the path on the right is long, twisted, and will surely be the more difficult path to follow, with many difficulties along the way." "Hmph" said Hawke, "that sounds like I don't want to take either of them!" "Indeed" said Flemeth, "but you must travel one of them, as there is no other way."

Hawke was lost in thought, trying to determine the hidden meaning behind the creature's words. When she looked again at Flemeth she sensed that she was awaiting her answer. "You haven't given me nearly enough information to decide anything yet." Flemeth herself closed her eyes then, as if considering what to say to the mortal in front of her. Hawke decided to use her indecision to her advantage, "what will I encounter along these paths, what else can you tell me of them?"

"As I said before, the path left is short, there will be less pain and suffering, you will cross paths with few others and then it ends. The other path, however longer and more painful, it will cross paths many times with hundreds of others, and you will be tortured along the way, but in the end it may lead you to a road others long to travel, but few will ever find." "What is that supposed to mean?" said Hawke. "It means" said Flemeth "that the hidden path that is desired by many may be found." "That doesn't tell me anything," Hawke said with an exasperated sigh. "Be happy that you are given a choice at all, most others run along blindly in the dark without any clue as to the choices placed before them."

Choices, paths to cross, this was starting to give her a headache. "What if I decide not to choose?" Even though Hawke had already made up her mind, she was too curious about the path to the right and if there were greater rewards to be had, wouldn't it be wise to take it rather the shorter, albeit more secure path to the left. Her eyes glanced to the right involuntarily. Flemeth saw this immediately and smiled wide "you have made your choice then?" she questioned. Hawke squinted in the distance trying to see down each of the paths, to the left she saw sunshine, warmth, relief, to the right it looked much darker, stormy almost, but glinting in the distance she saw a blue flash. She really couldn't see far down either of them and her unease grew because she knew that this choice before her was probably the biggest decision she would ever have to make. She also knew that once she chose, she would never have the opportunity to go back and explore a different path. She wondered if that were a bad thing, there would certainly be offshoots from both which she could explore. The paths were a metaphor for her future life, she knew this, and how could this creature expect her to make a conscious decision that would shape her future? Her headache was pounding now; she rubbed her forehead reeling with the enormity of he decision. Hawke was usually happy being that person who allowed the winds of fate to take her where it wills. That hadn't worked out well for her so far she thought sadly. The winds of fate had been cruel to her, taking away everything she had ever loved and leaving her feeling like a husk that had been stripped. In that instant she knew that the choice had been made. "Yes" she answered.

"Good" said Flemeth, "I have other things that need attending to, but first there is something else you need to do." Uh oh, thought Hawke, here it comes. She braced herself. Flemeth walked over into a small clearing surrounded by stones that she had not noticed before, she followed, unable to keep her feet from moving. "You are a powerful mage, and an arcane warrior at that, but you have much more to learn, tell me, can you harness the power of lyrium that you mages are so fond of?" "What do you mean?" asked Hawke. "These stones are raw lyrium, do you notice anything else about them?" Hawke looked closer, they were in fact lyrium, bright glowing blue, and their outlines decidedly sharp against the blur of the fade. She didn't notice anything unusual about them. "You mortals are so blind and deaf to the things that surround you, it is a wonder that you manage to walk upright," she said with a playful tone in her voice. "The stone speaks, if you listen closely enough you can use that to your advantage." This woman speaks only in riddles, what the hell is she talking about? Hawke concentrated then, closing her eyes and trying to sense the power in the lyrium. She suddenly found that the lyrium seemed to hum; she was drawn closer to one of the stones. "Touch it," said Flemeth. "That's insane" Hawke said, "lyrium in its raw form is poison! Only the dwarves can work with it and even then it takes its toll on their bodies." "Bahh" spat Flemeth, "that's what men have taught you, but is it not lyrium that can enhance a mage's power, what is in those little vials your templars are so fond of?" Hawke thought of the vials of lyrium that templars were addicted to, is that what gave them power to dispel magic and drain mana? The thought intrigued her. Templars were simply men, did that mean that lyrium gave them some sort of magic power? She looked at Flemeth who urged her forward; the lyrium itself seemed to be pulsing, calling to her in a way. "I'm not ready to die yet." She told the woman. She laughed heartily and said, "you cannot die here, you are in the fade, and your body sleeps elsewhere."

Hawke reached out tentatively toward the lyrium, touching it went against everything she had been taught, but she couldn't stop herself. When her fingertips met the stone her head exploded in blue light, the humming became beautiful music the likes of which she never heard before. She gasped as she felt her magic pulse and grow stronger, the light grew so bright that it was nearly blinding and then… everything grew dark again.

She almost screamed, this was too much for her mind to grasp. Was she going crazy, what just happened? She was shaking and sweating even though the room was cold. She blinked and found herself in darkness again, no, not total darkness. A sliver of light was coming from somewhere high above her. She was sitting on a rickety cot, in a cell? What in the Makers name was going on?

Slowly she returned to her senses and remembered that she had been captured by slavers and was sitting in a cell in her new masters estate.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Meeting Master

She tried to come to grips with everything that had happened to her over the last few weeks. She still felt out of focus, perhaps her slim grip on reality had begun to loosen, she didn't know.

She noticed some water and food had been placed at her doorway, probably pushed in from a slit in the door. She still felt weak, as if her legs were made of rubber but she drank the water gratefully and ate, wishing that it was more, she was still so hungry. She had no idea what would happen next. Hawke was strong and had been through much this last year, she firmly believed that she could hang on until the opportunity to escape came.

While she pondered her surrounding she absently snapped her fingers to ignite a small fireball to help her to see, this was a long time habit of hers and when the fire didn't appear she was shocked. She tried several times, then she tried to summon an ice spell, a lightning spell, anything, but nothing happened. That was when the panic set in.

Eventually someone came to her cell, a chain was snapped onto the collar she still wore and a very haggard looking elf with brilliant grey eyes and streaks of grey in his brown hair led her out. She was led into a very sumptuous looking room and before long she met her new master.

"Ahh," said an older thin man with hard grey eyes and grey hair and beard to match. "So our barbarian temptress is finally ready for our inspection." He said this with a smile on his face, but the smile didn't extend into his eyes. Hawke felt like he was looking at her like he would look upon a side of meat. There were two others in the room with him, one a human woman dressed in mage robes and the other a tall elven man dressed in strange armor, he had his head bent and she couldn't see his face.

"Now then, girl, remove your clothes so that I can see what you look like. She did not look at him before answering and said "no." The man looked at her with those cold gray eyes of his and his reaction was one of surprise. She had a feeling that he was very unaccustomed to hearing the word no. As she watched him she saw the surprise turn to excitement and she felt a cold chill running down her spine as he said "You are now a slave in my household and will do whatever I ask of you, you would do well to learn this lesson quickly or your life will be a short and painful one." The woman in the mage robes looked at the man adoringly and said "she is a slow witted barbarian, I don't understand why you brought her to the household, what do you need with another female slave anyway?"

The man responded to her saying "tsk tsk Hadrianna, no need for you to be jealous, at least not yet. She will be good practice for both of us and if she can learn to behave herself; perhaps a good addition to my personal bodyguards. Things are becoming unsteady here in Tevinter and to have someone that can use both magic and weapons to guard me would be an asset to us all indeed."

The woman at his side made a sound of disapproval, The man continued "She is a barbarian that is true, and an arcane warrior at that, which is why I purchased her in the first place, we will need to evaluate her fully to see what she can do",

"Let me see your face barbarian", Hawke did not move, the man who was now her master sighed heavily and said "This will go much easier for you if you do as you are told. Hawke knew that she was pressing her luck, but found that even if she wanted to, she could not yet comply with his request.

"Fenris, if you please" he said and the other elf in the room grabbed her head and forced her to look into the eyes of Danarius. He was taller than her so her head was forced into an uncomfortable angle. He moved within inches of her face and said "yes, you are most striking, you have that wild look about you, your eyes are the most lovely shade of blue", he clucked. "I will pardon you for your rude behavior for the moment, but do not think that you will get away with it a second time. Besides, we don't want our relationship to start out on a sour note do we?" His voice oozed malice underneath his words. "You are now the property of Danarius, a magister of the Tevinter imperium and I expect to be addressed as _master _ the next time we meet." He emphasized the word master as he spoke.

Hawke glanced at the elf who was still holding her head and she saw the faintest shake of his head, he seemed to be trying to warn her, to do as the master wished, but it wouldn't help. Hawke had always been stubborn.

With a sigh the magister turned to the other elf that still stood holding her chain in his hands "take her back to her quarters". The elf nodded and with his head down he said "yes Master." Hawke turned to look into the eyes of the man who held her, at first she was shocked, he had the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen, the color of grass after a warm spring rain, they reminded her of the eyes of the Dalish she had spent time with. But his eyes were different in some way that she couldn't quite place, intense, distant, sad, she wasn't sure.

She was led her out of the room found herself being taken down into the basement, or dungeon was perhaps a better word for it. Was this where all the slaves were kept? She wondered. As she was paraded around like a puppet on a leash she saw faces trying to steal glimpses of the new slave and wondered. She thought she saw faces that were familiar, but she could not imagine why and decided that her mind was still too weary to focus.

She was returned to her cell without the older elf speaking to her at all. He released her chain and locked her in once again. She was alone with her thoughts and her fears.

Hawke decided that she would try to work on her spells again now that she was alone, but the panic returned quickly when she found that she had none. All her life she had wished that she had been born "normal" like other people, that she did not have magical talent, but at this moment she wished more than anything that she could use her talents to escape this hellhole she now found herself in.

Night came and as the minutes and hours dragged by, she found herself feeling sorry for herself, for what she had lost, for her lost family, her freedom, everything seemed to come crashing down around her and she felt as if the blackness would swallow her whole. There was no light in this wretched place. She curled up into a ball on the cot that was her bed and held herself tightly afraid that she was losing her mind. The ache in her heart became almost unbearable, but she would not give in and cry. She refused to giver her new master that satisfaction, she knew it was foolish, but she felt that if she gave herself over the emotion now that she would giving up a piece of herself. She clenched her teeth and her hands turned into tight fists as she dug her nails into her palms to keep herself from crying. Crying would accomplish nothing, she had to stay strong so that when the opportunity to escape arrived, she would be ready.


	5. Chapter 5

Just another slave

Fenris stood in the room, head bowed, considering what the magister and Hadrianna had said about the new slave. He didn't usually pay much attention when new slaves were added to the household, but this one was to be evaluated as a second bodyguard. He couldn't fathom that, the slave was female for one thing, and not very large at that! How could one so small be a proper bodyguard? He also said she could use magic, but she looked like no magister he had seen before. He wondered if this was truly why his master had acquired the slave, he certainly had paid a large sum of gold for her. Perhaps he had other reasons; that was more likely.

He did not envy her. Still, if she was to be a bodyguard, it was a threat to his position. He didn't like the thought of that. He enjoyed some small amount of notoriety among the other slaves that allowed him brief respites from his servitude and he was not willing to give that up to another. There was no way he would allow some woman barbarian to take his place as Danarius' lead bodyguard. Just the thought of being replaced made his blood boil. He would see that she learned her place quickly and that _he_ was the lead warrior in this household.

As Fenris stood considering the situation, his master spoke to him. "Fenris," "yes master", he replied. "You will oversee the barbarians training with Rinval, you are also going to be personally responsible to see that she does not escape." Fenris let a slight frown cross his face as his master spoke. He knew the implications that were left unspoken, if the woman escaped, Fenris himself would be punished severely for allowing it to happen.

The thoughts were disquieting to him. "I do not want to lose my investment, do you understand?" "Yes master" he replied. Fenris knew from previous experience that it would take time to break the new slave into submission and that she would try to escape given any opportunity. New slaves always tried to escape, but as time passed and their attempt at escape failed, their spirit would eventually break. He had seen it hundreds of times before. It was just a matter of how long it would take for this one to submit to his master.

He hid these thoughts behind the mask of indifference he had come to wear on his face. As a slave, there were few things that were considered private, and Fenris had learned early on how to hide his feelings and thoughts so that they could not be used against him. It was an ability that many slaves had worked hard to perfect. If the master could not see the fear or hatred on your face, he would take less pleasure in tormenting his property. Young or newly acquired slaves who had not learned this were sometimes tortured to the point of death because his master so enjoyed seeing the abject terror or pain reflected in their eyes and on their faces.

Fenris went down into the basement of the household, stopping to get his meager dinner from the slave's galley as he did so. He found her cell and sat down quietly against the door to eat his meal and consider what had transpired. The events of the day had been strange to say the least. Fenris knew from personal experience that it did not bode well for his master to take such an interest in this woman. He himself could attest to this. His master had taken a keen interest in him some time ago and had spent much time and effort making him the ultimate killing machine. He looked down at the markings on his hands and remembered the intense pain he had undergone when the lyrium had been branded into him. Unpleasant memories of learning to master his new skills flooded his mind.

He remembered waking up naked on a stone table in the masters laboratory. Intense pain flooded his mind and his markings flashed blue as he tried to stop the flood of memories. "Where am I?" he said, "Do you not know?" answered a strange voice. "You are to become my greatest achievement" answered the voice. "You are my slave and I am your beloved master." As Fenris sat there remembering the pain and torture, more unwanted memories filled his mind. Memories of learning to use his new lyrium talent, learning to control it. It had taken months before he could gain any sort of control. He had been forced to phase his arm and then his entire body so that he could pass through metal, flesh and bone, so that he could reach through a person and rip out their organs. He remembered standing in front of amour stands, his master behind him with a riding crop, prodding him onward until he was able to put his hand through first amour, then stone, and then flesh. It had been a slow process and he had many scars on his back to attest to his slowness in learning, but now it was perfected and he could phase through almost any solid object he wished.

Danarius had never said so directly, but he knew he had been pleased with the results. He would often have him display his abilities in front of the other magisters who had been invited to his home as a show of power and superiority over the others. He hated having to perform on command at his masters parties, he found it repulsive to take a fellow slaves life. But in this, he had no choice. Danarius often purchased slaves for this purpose alone, they were usually the least expensive he could find, and their sole purpose was to die by Fenris' hand. At least he made sure that their end was a quick one and never allowed them to linger in pain, unlike his master.

That was not true of other slaves master brought to his parties for entertainment. Many were purchased just to fuel the rituals, their blood used as a source of power. They too died quickly. It was the other ones for whom he felt the most pity. Fenris had seen first hand what became of the younger slaves who attended his gatherings, both male and female. Often he was the one who had to return what was left of them to their cells, or dispose of the bodies discreetly. Fenris had been forced to watch the sordid acts of depravity performed by the magister and his guests upon the ones that caught his eye. He hated his master. Hated him with every fiber of his being. Hated what he had been forced to do over the years in his service. The master frequently took slaves to his personal quarters, though his taste tended more toward young boys, he shuddered involuntarily as he thought of it. Many times while he stood while the master pleasured himself he had been thankful that the master had such a distaste for elves otherwise he himself might have been subject to "alone time" with Danarius.

This woman was human though, he had seen the gleam in his masters eye as he looked her over at her in the market place, perhaps that is why he purchased her. He didn't want to think about it. While he felt sorry for her he knew he could do nothing to ease her situation. He had to look out for himself lest he displease the master and end up beaten or worse.

His mind wandered and he thought of the words his master had used to describe her, barbarian, arcaine warrior. She was from Ferelden. He knew little of the land or its people, he remembered vaguely that some in Tevinter referred to them as "dog lords." They were known to be fierce warriors who fought alongside great wardogs that they kept Many of the magisters he heard speak of them thought little of them, but still, his master had wanted this one very badly. There must be more to them than what he knew.

Strangely he found himself thinking that he would not like to see her end up at one of masters "parties" or having to watch him take his pleasures with her in his personal quarters. He did not know why, but this possibility bothered him. He decided that he would rather see her become a bodyguard as he was. She certainly would be no threat to him, she was a woman after all.

As he sat pondering this, he fell asleep. He did not know how long he had slept but when he looked around he saw that there was a faint light growing from a window on the far side of the wall. He judged it to be just before dawn. The slaves would soon begin their daily chores and he would have to approach Rinval to see what his plans were for the woman.

He heard her moving and it was a short while after that he heard screaming. It was a loud, high-pitched wail and then there was the sound of something hitting the stone wall inside her cell. The sound reverberated around the thick walls of the basement. He felt a pang of guilt and panic then, not knowing what was going on inside the cell. He ran for Rinval's office, searching for the keys to the cell. He needed to get in there quickly. What could be happening to cause her to cry out like that. He found the keys and ran to the cell just as Rinval himself had awakened. They got the door open to find her banging her fist against the wall until it was bloodied. He reached out to stop her and had to wrestle her arms behind her. She was stronger than he would have thought.

"Let me go" she practically snarled at him. "I will release you if you are done beating the wall." He said. She seemed to calm down slightly at this and when he let her go he looked into her eyes for the first time. They were a most unusual shade of blue, azure; and he saw the raw emotions in them, fear, pain, sorrow, even panic. He was fascinated by what he saw, her eyes were the color of the ocean, deep blue depths that sparkled in the sun. He found it hard to look away from them. He tried to brush these thoughts away as he introduced himself to her. "My name is Fenris, I am the masters bodyguard and he has instructed me oversee your training." "You mean, he has tasked you with ensuring that I don't escape." "That is also true" he said. Rinval stepped forward then and said "I am the masters guard captain and I will be assisting Fenris with your training and will oversee your testing." Hawke looked at them both, not really understanding any of it. But she decided she would have to play along for now, she didn't have much choice.

Fenris pulled a cloth from a pouch at his waist and used it to wrap her bloodied hands. He was amazed at the amount of damage she had been able to inflict in such a short period of time. She didn't flinch as he wrapped them. He smirked a little to himself, she had a fairly high tolerance for pain he noted. Good, she would need that to survive.

A chain was snapped onto the collar around her neck and she was led out of the cell. "The chain isn't really necessary is it?" She inquired. She looked at the men each in turn awaiting an answer. "It is for now" Fenris responded. They took her to the slaves galley as breakfast was being served. She took a plate and followed them to sit and eat. The food wasn't much, she ate it in silence. Other slaves began to arrive in the room and soon she felt many eyes on her, they were sizing up the newest acquisition to their ranks. Hawke felt very small and insignificant.

Afterward she had been allowed into the washroom and was given fresh clothes to wear. She was glad that they at least had the decency to give her privacy while she bathed and put on the leggings and tunic she had been given. Her own clothes were soiled and torn beyond repair. She went to the washroom door to find Fenris standing guard outside. "Rinval wants to see you in his office" he said. She nodded slightly and followed him.

When they arrived Rinval had her armour and blades lying on a nearby table and Fenris noted that she seemed to brighten when she saw them. Rinval spoke "you are to be tested in battle against some of the lower ranking guards of the house, if you do well you will be allowed to train with us. Master wishes to see your abilities in combat firsthand to determine if you are worth keeping as a guard." The woman's eyebrows went up when he said this and Fenris felt that she wasn't understanding the hidden meaning behind Rinval's words. "Do you understand what is being asked of you?" Rinval said.

The woman looked him in the eye then and said "yes, you want me to fight". Rinval looked at her and then at Fenris, the two of them shared a knowing glance, but Hawke was oblivious to it. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was a slave and was expected to fight to prove her worth, not that she wouldn't enjoy it though. As she thought this a slight smile played on the edges of her lips. It would allow her to release some of the anger and pain that had built up, but, she still couldn't use her magic and had no idea why.

Thinking of this made the panic return, what if her magic was gone forever? As she thought about it more the icy grip of fear grabbed hold of her and her face fell. The tall elf watched her face carefully trying to gauge her understanding of the situation. Rinval glanced pointedly at the elf and then her as he said "you will not be allowed to wear your armour or use your weapons" That made the woman's head snap up and she said "How do you expect me to fight without weapons?" she asked incredulously. Hawke got worried, she had become accustomed to fighting with her twin daggers, they had been made especially for her and allowed her to channel her magic. She was not sure she would be able to fight and more importantly win, without her own blades.

You will be given practice armour and blades that are too dull to cut unless placed deep into flesh, I assume because of the weapons you were wearing that you prefer daggers?" "yes", she said, I can also use a long sword but I prefer to use two weapons while fighting". "Very well" Rinval said. He motioned for them to leave the room and Fenris took her back into the common area. She glanced longingly at her blades as she was led out of the room. They obtained the practice armour and weapons and he walked her out into the training arena.

There were several warriors sparring with each other in the morning sun. Rinval came out and called to five of them and explained the situation. They began sizing her up and formed a circle around her. She knew she was expected to perform, but had not yet decided if this was in her best interest or not. She was handed the practice daggers and the others backed away as the signal to fight was given. She was worried, this could go very badly for her.

She really didn't want to fight them, but perhaps a bit of exercise was in order. She dodged their attacks skillfully. Never letting any of them get close enough to land a blow. Her confidence began to grow as she managed to avoid the worst of their blows without using magic. She kicked one in the groin when he got too close and then turned on her heel to knock another down to the ground with the hilt of the dagger she carried. The day was getting hot and she was beginning to sweat but she had to admit it was fun to frustrate the hulking men around her. She knew that they were getting angrier by the looks on their faces, but she did not want to give them the satisfaction of landing a blow. It was like dancing in a way. When they came in with their swords and shields held in front of them she would parry and quickly step away out of their reach.

Still they did manage to get a few hits in on her, her body was weakened still and she was not at her best. One of the guards got a hit to her side. She was going to have a bruise from that one. Still another guard kicked her hard in the knee. That one hurt, her legs buckled underneath her. Quickly another guard approached to take advantage of her weakened state. She needed to get control of this fight quickly. Without her magic it was much harder. She realized then how much she had relied on it to help her in battle. She re-doubled her efforts and focused herself to win the battle.

Fenris watched from a distance and frowned. What did she think she was doing? This was not a game. He was still undecided if he should try to stress the importance of the situation to her. He called for an end to their sparring and walked to the woman. "You obviously possess some skill, why do you not end this." He asked. "You are playing with them." Hawke looked at him and grinned. Of course she was playing with them, its one of the things she did best.

Fenris decided it was time for a break and walked her over to a nearby well. Hawke got a drink from the pail and sat down by the wall behind it. He turned to her and said "your place among Danarius' slaves will be determined by the outcome of this fight. If you lose the master will find another use for you." He let this thought sink in and watched her eyes to see if she understood. Hawke was unsure of what to do. She had been planning to remain on the defensive during this fight, but with those words ringing in her ears she thought that it might be in her best interest to show them all that she was a skilled fighter after all. She did not like the tone in the elf's voice.

"Perhaps you would prefer to become one of masters pleasure slaves?" Fenris said. His dark eyebrow went up as he said this. "A what?" Hawke said. "Each slave in the household has a purpose, if you fail to become a bodyguard another purpose for you will be found. If you have no other skills" Fenris let the words hang in the air. Hawke's stomach lurched at the implied thought, she would _die_ rather than let that monster use her in that way.

The match resumed. She was still considering his words when the guards once again surrounded her. She decided then and there that she would win this. A look of determination crossed her features. She held her head high and eyed her competition. Fenris took note and smiled, maybe now she would put her mind into the battle.

She took a calming breath. Someone yelled "BEGIN" and her instinct for survival took over. She crouched into a fighting stance as she studied her opponents, she judged that the one to her left was the most eager to land the first blow and she directed her attentions to him. He looked strong, they all did, but they also looked slow. Her fighting style was more suited to fighting from stealth and she hoped that her speed would give her a slight advantage. She jumped from her stance and quickly found her way behind the man to her left and landed a blow to his knees, then reached up and hit him in the back of the head with the pommel of the blade in the spot that she knew could bring a man down. One down, four to go. The others seemed to be caught off guard by this and she was able to slip under their defenses by doing jump kicks and landing blows to vulnerable spots in their armor. Before long, all four of them were down on the ground. She felt the thrill of battle coursing through her veins and was almost sorry that the battle was over so quickly.

She looked up at Fenris and Rinval to gauge their reaction. Then Rinval ordered three more guards to take the place of the fallen ones. She fought again and again the guards fell before her. All of them were on the ground panting and groaning just as the ones before them. At least she had been able to release some of the pent up anger she had been holding inside herself.

She was starting to feel the strain of battle in her aching muscles and the sudden lack of adrenalin was wearing on her. She dropped her blades and nearly fell. She was totally spent. She found Fenris by her side before she fell over and he surprisingly lent her his arm to keep her from falling face first into the dirt. Her body had weakened severely between the voyage to tevinter and being locked in a cramped cell with little food. She looked into the eyes of the elf supporting her and smiled weakly. He found that he couldn't help but return the smile.

"We will return to the guard barracks and you can rest, you fought well." Fenris had been impressed, he couldn't help himself. She fought with such speed and grace, it was unlike any fighting style he had seen before. Her finesse with the twin blades was impressive, and if this was her in a weakened state, he wondered what she would be like once she regained her strength and had time to practice.

His thoughts were disquieting, why did he even care about this new slave? Was it because she was a woman? And if she was a mage, he should show her no pity, but she had not used any magic yet. Even if she was a mage she was not the same as Danarius and Hadrianna, somehow he knew this already. Fenris had never really had any thoughts such as these concerning the other women slaves, why should this one be any different? His brow knitted together as he tried to puzzle out the reason for his feelings.

For some strange reason he found that he did care whether this woman lived or died by Danarius' hand. He decided that he would work with her to improve her fighting style. Even though it was different he knew there were things he could teach her. She had dropped her guard several times he observed, she probably had never had the benefit of being taught by a trained warrior such as himself.

Satisfied with his decision, he motioned for her to follow him back to the building. He had enjoyed this brief excursion into the sunlight. The day had been bright and he found that he had missed it. He turned his head upward enjoying the feeling of warmth on his skin for one last moment before they went through the doors. For some reason the thought of sparring with her made him feel excited, tingly. It was new to him. He allowed himself a small smile. He had something to look forward to.

She noticed the smile cross his lips. She wondered at this. "Does this mean that I passed the test?" She asked quietly. "No" he responded. "this was just a sparring to prepare you for the test to come, the master himself will then judge you. When that time comes, you will fight to the death." He saw no reason to mince words with her, she should know the truth. She swallowed hard at hearing his words, this was just a sparring match, one woman against five. Maker! She didn't know if she would survive that long.


	6. Chapter 6

I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter posted, I will try to make my updates more regular in the future. As always bioware owns all.

Reviews are welcome!

OoOoO

Chapter 6 – Lessons Learned

The next day Hawke was beginning to feel that she should start to memorize her surroundings. She needed to learn her way around should the opportunity to escape present itself.

The basements of the mansion were huge, Hawke found out; and this was where most of the slaves were housed. There were actually three levels down below. On the first level down there was a huge common area with tables and a kitchen at the back end of the room, there was a large cooking fire here and this was where the slave's meals were eaten. She thought about this arrangement and decided that the masters probably would not want their slaves eating in the kitchens of the main house where their own food was prepared. Never mind that it was slaves that prepared it for them in the first place.

There were also many smaller rooms on this level that served as storage for equipment and supplies. The constant cool and damp of the basement was perfect for keeping food and wine preserved for long periods of time. Most of the small rooms had heavy metal doors that appeared to be locked. How anyone could keep track of what key fit in which door must have been a feat in itself. On the other side of the common area was a long hallway that led to row upon row of rooms each similar to the one before it. A few doors appeared to be open and had desks inside that almost looked like an office of some type. Rinval's office was on this level, but Hawke could not remember where.

The second level was where the bulk of the slaves were housed. There were large rooms that looked like dormitories with bunk beds crammed in them. There were slits carved into the stone that seemed to be placed to allow a small amount of light to filter down from the upper level. Mostly though, this level was lit by magical globes that were fastened to the walls. It gave an eerie glow, not really bright, but not completely dark either.

Hawke was beginning to think she would never be able to find her way around, let alone memorize all the rooms and hallways. The place was enormous and had twists and turns everywhere. The underground levels must run underneath the entire mansion, including the courtyards and the gardens. It was huge. There were probably secret passages here as well.

Hawke's cell or room was here on this second level. It was on the south end of the level amongst many other individual cells. Hawke had never been down to the third level, but from what she had managed to learn, this was where slaves were taken when they had "misbehaved" it was probably more of a dungeon than anything else.

Hawke was thinking of the layout of the property as she lay on her cot in her cell. Nothing that came to mind so far had helped her form a plan for escape, but she knew that he information might be of use eventually. She sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes and wondered what today would bring.

Would she be forced to fight again, what happened to her magic? She frowned deeply when her mind focused on the subject of her lost magic. She still did not have an answer. She focused her mind and tried to gather her will to perform the magic. She felt nothing, it was starting to worry her more as time passed. It was not so much that she missed being able to perform magic, it was more that she missed the feeling of magic flowing within her. It was hard to put her finger on, but she was beginning to think that without her magic she was feeling weaker as time passed. That if she didn't get the magic back that she would cease to exist.

She sat there with these distressing thoughts running through her mind as she heard the lock on her cell door being turned. She looked up and saw a face she did not immediately recognize. It was a man, dressed like the one of the masters guards who barked "Get up, it is time for training." He spoke in a gruff voice, devoid of any emotion. She got up and followed him. She saw that he was tall, and broad as well, he made her feel small because of his massive bulk. She did what she was asked though and followed quietly without speaking a word.

The man did not speak to her, he led her out to the courtyard where she had fought the guards before and proceeded to bark orders. She was unsure what was going to be expected of her, the man was speaking in Arcanum and she only understood very few words. Soon enough though the man turned to her and said in common "you will now fight, if I decided you are fighting poorly, you will be punished."

"Where are Fenris and Rinval?" Hawke asked. She knew that Fenris had been tasked with being personally responsible for her and Rinval had taken an interest in her training as well. "They are not here to help you" the man snickered, "you are in my charge today and will be fighting men that I have personally chosen for the job."

Hawke did not like the tone of his voice; she could feel his hostility toward her. She did not know what she had done, but felt deeply that this man hated her for no other reason than the fact that she existed. "I have no armor or weapons." She stated to the man flatly. He barely acknowledged her speaking and said, "you won't need it, your some sort of fancy barbarian aren't you?" And with that the conversation ended.

Hawke turned and was suddenly attacked from all sides, seemingly at once. This was not a well ordered battle as the last one had been and she wondered what sort of orders the men had been given. She fought as best she could with only her hands and feet and no armor. She avoided most of the blows aimed at her but then the fight started to turn against her.

There were just too many, she barely fought off one as another came at her from behind. Before she knew what was happening two men jumped her on her at once and they started hitting her mercilessly. Then two more joined them and she figured that this was it, she was going to die here and there was nothing she could do about it. Then the man who had led her out to the fight came up and said, "today's lesson is about learning to bow to your betters" he smirked.

"Rinval is in charge of the guards, and Fenris is the Masters trusted bodyguard, but, when they are gone, they leave me in charge." He grinned widely as he said this; obviously the man enjoyed the power that was given to him when the others were gone. "It just so happens that the master is away on business for a day or two, and he never goes anywhere without a full complement of guards. And that leaves me to oversee the slaves, and play with their toys while they are away." His smile as he said this and it gave Hawke a shiver down her spine.

"The master will not appreciate you abusing his slaves." Hawke spat back at him. "Oh, and who is going to tell him, you?" he laughed heartily at that. "You have no position here and are not yet even a permanent member of the guard or even the household, who do you think the master would believe if it came down to it?" He asked pointedly. Hawke considered what he said and knew that it was the truth, the master would believe a trusted slave who had been in his household for years over a newly purchased and decidedly angry and bitter newcomer.

Things were not looking good for Hawke at that moment. The look of hate and something else behind the mans eyes told her that things were going to be bad until Fenris, Rinval, and the master returned from wherever they had gone.

"Very well" Hawke said, "you've had your fun then." She said sarcastically. "Oh no my dear, the fun is just beginning, you and I are going to have a good time while they are gone, a very good time indeed."

Great, thought Hawke, just freaking great. The huge man had other ideas for her. Getting her beat senseless by the guards wasn't enough for him. How the hell was he going to hide this from Rinval, or the master? The man must be crazy, or figured that the punishment would be worth it in the end. If she got the chance she was going to make this big idiot regret his actions.

The big man turned, Hawke still didn't know his name, and barked orders once again. Then he grabbed her by the arm and began dragging her back inside. She was already getting sore from the beating she had taken and resented his rough handling as she fought to pull her arm away. He turned on her then and without warning brought his hand across her face hard, drawing blood from her nose. "I told you this lesson was about learning to obey your superiors, and I am your superior." He said.

Hawke grit her teeth, she wanted badly to respond to his words but decided better of it. She didn't want to provoke him in her weakened state. She hadn't even been given food yet today and wondered when she would be allowed to eat and drink. She was led back to her cell, but instead of him locking her in as usual, he stepped inside with her and exchanged knowing glances with another man just outside the door. She glared at the man, determined that he would not get the better of her.

"So, now its just the two of us" he leered at her, he didn't say anything else but advanced toward her and pinned her against the wall with one hand, while groping at her with the other. She fought back and found new energy as the adrenalin began coursing through her veins and the instinct for self preservation kicked in. She had lost the battle out in the courtyard because she had been overwhelmed by so many, but here it was just the two of them.

She kicked him hard in the groin, and followed with several quick jabs to the gut and face. The man staggered back in surprise, apparently he thought that after the beating she had taken outside that she would be spent and unable to fight back. He was mistaken if he thought that she would submit to him; Hawke would rather die than submit to him.

She was still kicking and jabbing at the man when the other man outside the door stepped inside and pulled the big man out. "Algar" he said "maybe this was a bad idea." The big man nodded quietly but said "I will teach this barbarian not to treat me like this." The two of them left and Hawke thought that the worst was over for now. She had been wrong.

The man she now knew as Algar, returned with two more men in tow and this time, he was carrying a whip. Hawke's eyes grew wide as she grasped what was about to happen. She never actually thought that he would return to make good on his promise. For some reason she had thought that punishment was the right of the master or the head guards only. She was quickly realizing that there were different factions among the slaves and that she had angered a very nasty leader of one of them.

The two men grabbed her by the arms and turned her face to the wall, with her back turned Algar readied the whip. "Perhaps this will make you more receptive to my orders." Hawke knew that fighting would not help and tried to focus her mind on happier times to help her with the pain that was about to come. She had been wounded in battle many times and hoped that she would survive this too. Of course back then, she had her magic and been able to heal herself afterwards.

She was readying herself when she felt the first blow across her back and she unconsciously cried out in pain despite herself. The whip cut deeply and left her feeling as if her back was on fire. He hit her again and again with the whip until she thought that death would be welcome. Each blow feeling as if she had been sliced with liquid fire. She cursed and cried out swearing that one day the man who held the whip would be repaid in full. Soon though, she felt her consciousness wavering, the pain and her wounds had become too much for her mind to take and she found herself falling into the fade.

She looked around to orient herself and thought briefly that she was no longer in pain. Was she dead? Is this what happened to your mind after your body died. She thought hard trying to decide if she was simply dreaming. The fade looked different than it usually appeared when she was dreaming, a small part of her mind was crying out that this wasn't right, that she shouldn't be here. She had no choice though, and she decided to walk a bit, following a path she had found. Before long she found herself in a field of flowers surrounded by thick forests.

It had that fuzzy, sort of misty look of the fade, but as she surveyed her surroundings she realized that she recognized this place.

She was in a field outside of Lothering. The wildflowers that bloomed were familiar to her, they were the type that she had picked as a child in the early spring. She realized that the air smelled fresh, like it had back home. It was morning as best she could tell and the air was cool on her skin, it felt good to be here. In Tevinter it was always hot, and she had missed the cool breezes of Ferelden. She leaned over to pick a small yellow flower and brought it to her nose, she could smell it! That was not normal for the fade, while everything in the fade looked real, it was missing something. You could never actually feel the wind, or smell flowers or anything else in the fade. It was a fake world and the thought that she felt and smelled these things disturbed her.

She pushed these thoughts aside for the moment and thought of Lothering. She was lost in thought when suddenly a man's voice called out to her. She looked and saw someone in the distance waving at her. She couldn't make out who it was, but they obviously knew her. She walked towards the man hesitantly. As she grew closer her heart seemed to clench, she recognized him. It was her father.

In her mind she knew that her father could not be here, but in her heart she desperately wanted it to be him. She had been so alone these past months and had nearly given in to despair many times. She needed to see someone who cared for her, who loved her and would give her the reassurance she needed that she would survive and everything would be all right. She was a strong, determined woman, but even she needed comforted once in a while. All that had been taken from her when she had been captured and sold as a slave.

She started running toward the figure she hoped was her father. He smiled at her and waved encouragingly. When she finally stood before him, he spoke. "My dearest Solona, I have missed you terribly." Hawke could stand it no longer, she walked to her father and hugged him tightly, burying her head in his shoulder as she had done many times before and began to cry. He returned the hug and gently stroked her hair trying to soothe her.

The tears fell and she was sobbing loudly when her father said "little one, I am so sorry for what has happened to you, but you must be strong." Hawke pulled back from her father to look him in the eyes and said "what's happening father, where are we and why are you here?"

"I am here because you called to me" he said with a gentle smile, "I don't understand." Hawke replied. "You don't need to my child, you needed me and here I am." She looked into his eyes and knew that this was truly her father, not some demon pretending to be him. His eyes were the most expressive part of him, they were the same color as hers and she could see her own reflected in them. As she gazed she could detect the love, concern, and longing he felt.

"Come my daughter, let us make the best of the time we have been given" He led her toward a small cottage nestled at the edge of the woods. She didn't recognize it but decided that being with her father was more important at the moment.

Once they were inside he made tea for them and surprised her with fresh, hot cinnamon rolls. She couldn't believe her eyes. Her mind was flooded with memories as she inhaled their scent. Her father had never been much of a cook, but he had made the most amazing cinnamon rolls. She closed her eyes and was instantly transported back to the many mornings that they had spent together, the times when she had been old enough to help make the delicious rolls with papa. And the smile on her face as father brought them out of the oven to present them to the rest of the family and explained how she had helped make them.

"How is this possible father?" She asked. She was afraid that this wonderful memory would go away and she would find herself back in that damned cell in Minrathous. She didn't want to go back.

"It is possible because of you" her father said. "Your mind reached out to me and I felt your need, your pain, and you brought me here to the fade. I had heard stories of powerful mages who were able to reach through the fade and bring others to them, but this is the first time I have experienced it." "You are more powerful than you know."

"But I can't even do magic, I don't know why, but its gone." He looked at her gravely then and said, "your magic is not gone, someone is interfering with it. It is still there inside of you." "Now have a roll and some tea, I don't know how long we have together." She sighed loudly and decided to enjoy the fantasy for what it was.

She pulled a roll from the steaming pan and took a large bite. Maker! It tasted good. She heard a nagging voice at the back of her head telling her that she shouldn't be able to taste it while in the fade, but for the moment she didn't care. She just enjoyed the warm sweet cinnamon taste. It was wonderful. Her father watched quietly as she ate. As she finished up, she decided to speak the words that were nagging at her mind.

"Father, I don't know if I can make it through this, its too hard." She said quietly, even she could hear the resignation in her voice. She wasn't even sure now if she wanted to go on living and fighting to stay alive if it meant she would be a slave. Her father looked at her straight in her eyes an said "You can do this, you are stronger than you know and you have a destiny to fulfill. That destiny does not involve being a slave the rest of your life."

"Then why did this happen to me" she asked as she choked back a sob. "I don't understand it." Her father looked at her with nothing but love in his eyes. "Perhaps this is a lesson to be learned, or perhaps this will lead you to your intended path, I cannot say. Believe me when I say I wish that this didn't have to happen and that I would do anything to change the way things are, but sadly I cannot."

Hawke looked at him and wished that things were different. So much had changed since that fateful day in Lothering. She found her thoughts wandering against her will. She wanted to enjoy this time with her father, not spend it reminiscing about the past. She shook her head, stopping the train of thought. She had to focus on the moment.

Again Hawke sighed loudly, "I just feel so alone father. "I know", he said gently "and while there isn't much I can do to help in the real world, I will be here for you and if you call to me I will come." She smiled then, relieved. It was some small comfort that at least she knew she could turn to her father here in the fade.

They talked about random things, Hawke found that it was easier and more relaxing to talk of inconsequential things. The afternoon went by quickly and she felt better. Much too soon though, her father indicated that it was time for her to go back to the real world. She didn't want to though, it was so pleasant here.

They walked together to the field she had first found herself in. "How can I find you again if I need you?" she asked her father. "Whenever your need is great, I will find you" he said cryptically. That really didn't answer her question, but she sensed that it was the only one he would give. She glanced into the distance feeling refreshed and renewed. When she turned back to where her father had been he was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

Here is the latest chapter of Hawke's story, I hope you enjoy. This chapter proved difficult to write, while I know where this story will eventually lead, it can sometimes be difficult to fill in the blanks between. As always bioware owns all characters. Feel free to review, suggestions and comments will be appreciated!

~OoOoOo~

Chapter 7 – Consequences

The dream realm quickly faded away and Hawke found herself back in her body, It took her only a moment to remember what had happened. She had slumped to the floor after being whipped and now she lay exactly where she had fallen. Her back felt like it was on fire, even the slightest movement caused pain, but she knew she had to get up off the floor. It was torture but somehow she managed to get up onto her feet and shuffle over the small cot and lay on her stomach.

It had taken all the strength she had to manage it, but at least she wasn't lying on the filthy floor anymore. She had no idea how much time had passed or how long she had stayed in the Fade. She slipped in and out of consciousness because of the pain. Her sluggish brain could not focus so she allowed herself to slip away again.

Some time later someone opened her cell door and she could hear voices; she had trouble focusing on what they were saying and really she didn't care. She was trying to will the pain away to no effect. The voices talked amongst themselves and then she heard the door open again and someone spoke to her.

"I am going to use an anti-septic on your back, the wounds must be cleansed otherwise infection will set in, it will burn at first, but it should dull the pain after a time." It was a male voice, Hawke could not respond and only grunted that she understood what the voice was saying. "Try not to move or jump, it will only make things worse." Hawke steeled herself as best she could.

She hissed loudly as she felt something touch the open wounds on her back, she gripped the sides of her cot tightly trying not to move, it burned, but it felt cold at the same time. She didn't think that the pain could get any worse, she was wrong, it was worse.

The voice spoke to her again "Once I have cleaned your wounds, I will use elfroot on them which should speed healing and numb the pain. We will not be able to bandage them for some time, but I will come and treat your wounds as often as I am allowed." The feeling of ice cold on her back began to turn into a throbbing ache as he worked at clearing the dirt and bits of clothing out of her wounds." After a time, the man spoke again saying "I am applying the elfroot now."

Hawke tried to look over her shoulder to see the face of the man behind her, she glimpsed his face in the gloom of her cell and could tell by his angular features that he was an elf. Other than that she could make out nothing, her vision was strangely blurry and she decided that it could wait until later to find out who he was. His touch was gentle and she knew that he was working hard not to cause her any further discomfort. She groaned loudly as the pain receded further and managed to croak out "thank you." The man stopped for a moment and looked at her face, trying to gauge if the poultice was having an effect on her. "I am sorry that they did not call for me sooner, I am no healer but being an elf I have knowledge of potions and poultices. My name is Kender, I think we both arrived here at out new masters house on the same slaver ship from Ferelden."

Hawke wanted to say something, but could not focus her mind. Kender touched her arm and said "is it any better?" Hawke nodded slightly. "Good" he said, I will return later today to change the poultice, it needs to stay moist in order to speed healing." Kender frowned to himself as he looked over his work, he had done the best he could with the elfroot he had been provided, but her skin would most definitely scar. There was nothing he could do about it though. He knocked on the cell door to indicate he was done and was led out of her cell.

The man outside, Renard, asked how she was. "She will survive, but the master will return long before her wounds can be healed." Renard grunted at that, they both understood that Algar had foolishly overstepped his bounds by taking his anger out on this woman, and she had not deserved his punishment. It was an unspoken rule that slaves never beat each other in this way, the master was the only one allowed to punish his property. Renard had been the one to come and seek out Kender to ask for his help to heal her. He knew Algar would rather just let her die so that she could not tell what had happened.

While he secretly hoped that Danarius would return soon, he also dreaded it. He knew that Algar would probably be killed for what he had done, he could see no way that this would end well. Either the woman would die or Algar would. Renard himself had at times been the brunt of Algar's anger and had decided before he sent for the elf that the master would want to keep the woman alive.

The main problem now was how to keep Algar away from her until the master returned. No doubt he regretted what he had done, not because he had harmed the woman but because the master would most likely punish him. He had to keep watch over her cell to see that he was not allowed to return to finish her off. This would not be an easy task as Algar had men who were loyal to him and would do his bidding. If he had to fight any of them off the master might just decide to punish all of them out of spite and anger. He sighed loudly and said a prayer to the Maker that he wasn't making a mistake by keeping this woman alive.

He turned to Kender and said "return to your duties, I will stand guard." Kender replied "I will return this evening when my work is done, she will need to have the poultice changed at least twice a day." He nodded to the human and left quietly.

Renard stayed just outside her cell door, waiting, expecting that Algar would return. This whole business had turned into a mess and he had no idea if he was doing the right thing. Only time would tell.

To his relief, Algar did not return that day, Kender came back and re-applied the poultice to her back which allowed him a few minutes to eat. He grabbed his meal and returned to his post as quickly as he could. While he stood there he considered his actions. He was a low ranking member of the masters guard, below both Algar and Rinval, although he knew that Rinval thought highly of him. Algar on he other hand was regarded highly by the master himself, because of his violent streak he had the ability to keep the men in line and never flinched at any of the masters requests; even when they involved beatings and death.

Whose side would the master take? He rubbed his forehead, he would love to see Algar gone, but there would always be another willing to take his place. Violence was the norm here at the estate, who could expect slaves to act any differently when they were treated with hatred and disgust. Violence bred violence and his master; Danarius, was one of the most hated and feared magisters of the Imperium.

He relished and enjoyed mistreating his property; it gave him a feeling of power. Renard did not know if all slave masters were the same, but his master was one of the most brutal. Because of this he had earned many enemies over the years and had to purchase and train a considerable force of guards to protect him. He never left the estate without being surrounded by his personal guard. He tortured his slaves at the least provocation, both real and imaginary. For this reason he was both respected, feared, and reviled by many.

Other magisters frequently made attempts at his life; it was a common practice in Tevinter for magisters to attack each other. They were brutal. If one magister managed to kill another he or she would inherit all his lands and property. Thus they were always fighting amongst each other. Danarius himself had managed to kill several lesser important magisters over the years, adding to his wealth and status. Backstabbing, conniving, and secret pacts were the norm for this place.

Renard shivered, if he had made the wrong choice he would pay for it with his life. He didn't really fear death, he had been a slave long enough to know that it was the only way out of his current existence. The one thing he did fear was the how of being killed, his master had ways to kill you so slowly that you eventually begged for death to come. His decision was made though, he knew the master valued this new slave and would be upset if she had died. Only thing left for him to do was wait.

Rinval slept outside her cell and he let Kender inside during the early morning hours to tend to her wounds again. She had barely moved during the two days since Algar beat her nearly to death.

The wait was finally over, sometime near noon the guards were alerted by a runner that their master would return by nightfall and all of the slaves hurried to make sure that the estate was in readiness. Renard dared not leave his post now, if Algar was planning to return he would have to make his move soon.

To his immense relief, however, he never did.

Fenris had been released from his duties as Danarius body guard for the evening and he arrived in he slave quarters to check on the woman. Renard knew the tall elf well enough, he was well known amongst the guard.

Fenris approached him, his face a blank. Renard had no idea how much the master or this slave knew of recent events. "I assume that by the fact that you are standing here that our newest guard in training has not yet managed to escape?" he asked. "You are correct" Renard responded. Fenris grunted in response. "I shall take over your duties then." He waved his hand for Renard to leave his post and looked puzzled when the man stayed still.

"There is a matter that you should be made aware of" he said. Fenris' eyebrow went up as he said this. Renard cleared his throat and went on "after you and the master left there was an incident between the barbarian and one of the senior guards" he hesitated then. Fenris said nothing and waited for the man to continue. Renard was beginning to lose his nerve in front of this strange elf with the unusual markings. He was wearing a most intimidating look on his face. Renard could not look him in the eye.

"Speak already" Fenris said in a harsh tone. Renard tried to think of the best way to tell the elf what happened, he wanted to appear neutral and assure the elf that he had not been involved in her beating. He decided that the truth would be best, "one of the guards decided that she should have a private lesson and when she refused him she was whipped. " Fenris did not let any emotion show on his face although he was suddenly very worried. He had been told that the woman was his personal responsibility. Surely however the master would not hold him accountable for things that happened while he had been out protecting the him? He could not answer that question. "Open her cell" was all he said.

Renard turned and did as he was asked, Fenris stepped inside and could not help the gasp that escaped his lips. The woman was on her stomach on the small cot, she moved slightly at the sound of the door opening and looked at the men who had entered. Fenris could not tell the true extent of her injuries, her back was slathered in some kind of thick green paste, elfroot leaves he guessed. He had seen it used before but not exactly in this manner.

"Tell me who is responsible" Fenris said in a low voice, Rinval noted that his hands were fisted at his sides. Renard sighed, "Algar" was all he said. Fenris bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Did anyone else take part in this?" "I did not witness it myself, but Algar was the one who wielded the whip, I do not know who helped him." He said honestly. "You may leave" Fenris said and did not look at Renard again. Renard slipped out of the cell without speaking.

Fenris stepped closer to the head of the cot to look the woman in the eyes. He saw the pain reflected in them. "What happened" he asked her. "It is just as Renard said" she replied. "What sort of private lesson was he referring to?" Fenris thought he knew the answer to his question, but he needed to hear it from her. Hawke sighed, she was embarrassed to admit to what happened, but it seemed she had no choice. "It was not a lesson" she said with disdain, "he tried to force himself on me and I fought back" she stated. "I see" was all he said and he let himself out of her cell.

Fenris was not sure what to do about the situation, he needed to talk to Rinval about it. He found him in his office and he told him of the events that had transpired, Rinval had been along with him to protect the master on his trip. Rinval looked alarmed when he found out, he tried to reason the best course of action. Rinval had been the headmaster of the guards for many years and had learned how to deal with the master and his ever changing moods. "He must be told" Rinval said, "but he is tired and weary from his journey. We will not disturb his evening with this news, it can wait until morning"

Fenris could see the wisdom in his words. Their trip had taken longer than expected and the master had been complaining loudly on his way back. He had made it clear that he wanted a hot bath and a meal, it would be unwise to disturb him with this news now. They agreed to meet up in the morning and to bring Renard to him to tell him of what happened. They could see no other way around it, master would have to be told.

The night passed quickly and morning came too soon for Fenris. The master was asking for him in his quarters. Fenris found Rinval and Renard and all three went together. He wanted to bring Algar along as well, so he had one of the maids summon him as well.

Danarius was still sitting in his night clothes, eating his breakfast at the large desk in his room and gave the three of them a scathing look when they entered the room. "I do not recall requesting any other than your presence Fenris, why are these others here?" His tone was mocking, Fenris knew that his anger was just beneath the surface of his words. Just then Algar entered the room as well, now the master was truly angry. "What is going on here?" he demanded.

Rinval spoke, "pardon the intrusion master" he said with his head bowed low "there has been a situation regarding the new barbarian slave you purchased that I thought you would wish to know about." Danarius mouth was pressed into a thin line, "has she escaped then?" he asked. "No master" Rinval replied, "we have had to suspend her training for a time because she was severely injured while you were away."

Danarius' eyebrows went up as he considered this "was she injured while training with the other guards?" "I cannot say as I was guarding you during the trip" Rinval bowed lower, "perhaps Algar can better answer your question as he was in charge of her while we were away." Fenris could not help but admire the man's handling of the situation, he managed to deflect the master's attention to Algar and leave him to answer his question.

"Well" Danarius said as he turned his gaze on Algar. "The slave was uncooperative and had to be taught a lesson" Algar said as casually as he could. Everyone could tell that the man was becoming nervous under the masters scrutiny. Fenris knew that if the man survived this that they had made an enemy.

The master turned his back on them while he considered his actions. "And just what sort of punishment did she receive?" His tone continued to be sickly sweet, but Fenris could tell that the master would not be able to control his anger for much longer, he was on edge.

When no one answered right away he whirled around and faced Algar. His piercing eyes hard. Fenris could feel him drawing his magic to him, the others were not as sensitive to it, but it was as if the very air in the room crackled with energy. Algar had not expected this, she was just another slave, he did not know that the master had paid a high price for her and had even higher expectations of what she could do. He realized his mistake now and tried to make light of the situation.

"It was nothing severe, I merely showed her how uncooperative slaves are treated in your household." Danarus inclined his head and his anger flared. He cast his magic on Algar, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to his knees. The magister was truly incensed now "How dare you decide punishment in my absence? Did you think you knew better than I?" In his rage he began shaking, everyone in the room was quiet, trying hard not to be noticed. Fenris, Rinval, and Renard had quietly stepped away from Algar, giving the magister room to inflict his punishment.

Danarius cast another spell and blood began to ooze from Algar's eyes, nose, mouth, even his skin, it was as if he was sucking the blood right out of him. The blood fueled his spell and soon it formed a cloud surrounding his body. It swirled around him seeming to suck the life out of him. Algar collapsed into a shaking heap on the floor and breathed his last breath. The cloud of blood disappeared, leaving only the dried out husk that had once been a man lying on the floor.

The magister sighed loudly and turned to the other slaves in the room, he eyed Fenris and said "get rid of that mess" with a dismissive wave of his hand "yes master" he replied with his head bent low. The magister turned then to Rinval "find the healer and have him tend to the barbarian, I want her able to fight within the week." Rinval bowed low and scurried off to find the healer. He turned his attention to Renard then and said "I take it that she is not beyond healing magic?" "I do not believe so" said Renard. "Good, you have done well keeping her alive until my return, your reward will be that you will be allowed to return to your duties without punishment." "Thank you master" Renard said and he too turned to leave the room and the grisly scene ofAlgar slumped on the floor as quickly as his feet would carry him. Only Fenris was left and he quickly scooped up the body of the dead slave to dispose of him. "I will expect there will be no further complications regarding my barbarian slave now that she will be under your watch Fenris." "No master" The magister turned his back on him then, "get the maids in here to finish cleaning, I will be in my private study." He turned then and walked out of the room.

Fenris took Algar's body to the edge of the estate for disposal. How many other times had he done this for his master he wondered. Usually he hated this part of his duties, but he found some small amount of satisfaction today. He really didn't understand why, but somewhere deep inside of him he felt that Algar had deserved his fate for what he had done to the woman. No one deserves to be treated like that, slave or no and to have it inflicted by another slave, that was just wrong in Fenris' mind.

He went back to the slave quarters to see if the healer had arrived yet. He was relieved to see Rinval outside the woman's cell, he nodded to him and Rinval said "the healer is with her now. I will call for you when he is finished his work." Fenris nodded again and wandered off to see if there was any food left from breakfast. Perhaps he could find a few scraps of food.


	8. Chapter 8

Here is the latest chapter in the saga of Hawke, hope you enjoy. As always Bioware owns all characters, etc. Reviews are welcome!

~oOoOoOoOoOoO~

Chapter 8

Hawke was aware that someone new had entered her cell, she didn't know who. She turned to look and saw the distinct image of mage robes. She hissed and made a weak attempt to get up off the cot, but was unable to get very far.

"Do not worry, I'm hear to heal you" a mans voice said. Hawke did not feel reassured by his voice as she turned to look at him. As she looked more closely at the man, she noted he was wearing an old set of brown mage robes, not the usual splendor that the magisters tended to prefer. The robes were tattered and worn with many holes near the bottom, his face was haggard and he looked tired. He was human she noted, with short brown hair and sunken eyes, he looked like he had not slept well in a long time.

"You are a mage" she said, great she thought, nothing like stating the obvious. What she really wanted to know was if this man held a rank similar to that of her new master, or was something else entirely. "yes" he said, "my name is Danelous." The man seemed to sense her fear of him so he added "you need not fear me, I am a slave in Danarius' household just like you." Hawke wondered at that. Strange that a mage should have other mages as slaves. "How is it that you are a slave, you are a mage?" she asked.

Danelous knelt by her cot and looked at her while considering his answer. "is that so strange? It is my understanding that you also are a mage." Hawke frowned as she thought about that, true she was indeed a mage, but she was still unable to summon her powers. She had begun to suspect that it had something to do with the strange collar around her neck. After considering all other options, this one seemed to fit best. The collar had strange markings carved into it, it was difficult to get a good look at it considering that it was around her neck, but she could trace the markings with her fingers and decided some time ago that they must be some kind of runes. Runes that somehow kept her from using any sort of magic.

This man had no such collar on. He began using his healing magic on her back, instantly the pain began to recede. His hands glowed a light blue as he moved them over her back, focusing on closing the gashes that had been caused by the whip. Hawke closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax. The pain was nearly gone.

The man, Danelous, she corrected herself, groaned heavily after a time as the blue light from his hands receded and then was gone. He slumped visibly and sighed. "I have done what I can for now, how do you feel?" "Much better" said Hawke.

For the first time in two days she felt more like herself. She shifted on the cot and moved to sit up, she wanted to talk to this mage. The movement made her dizzy however, while her wounds were mostly healed, her body was weak and tired, she had also not eaten for some time. She put her hand to her forehead to stop the room from spinning. "Easy now" Danelous said, and he placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. She met his eyes for a moment and tried to voice all the questions that were spinning in her head.

"How is it that you can use magic and you are a slave?" she asked. The man gave a halfhearted smile, he knew what she was getting at. "I am trained in the spirit healer arts only, because of this the master does not see the need to take away my powers as he has you." "I'm not sure I understand" Hawke replied.

Danelous sighed "The master keeps me around so that I can heal him after battles, from time to time he also allows me to heal other slaves whose injuries he deems worthy of healing. He knows that I can only heal and cannot harm, for this reason he sees me as no threat. He has nullified your powers at present to keep you from using them against him." Hawke considered this, she decided to ask the mage if her suspicions were true.

"Does it have something to do with this collar?" He smiled "yes, it is the runes that negate the use of magic and so long as you wear it you will not be able to cast any spells." "I suspected as much" said Hawke. This solved the mystery of her lost magical abilities. "Danarius must see you as a threat, that is why he has placed the collar on you." Hawke nodded, "will I be forced to wear this blasted thing forever?" Danelous shook his head, "I doubt it, he just needs to feel secure that you will not use your powers against him."

Hawke would have to try very hard to suppress her nature, it would not be easy. She had to lull him into a false sense of security until she had the chance to escape. Now that she thought about it, it felt like the right thing to do. If she acted the part of the obedient slave, perhaps the master would let his guard down in front of her and not watch her so closely. It couldn't hurt to try anyway.

She would not voice her thoughts to Danelous however, he had been kind but she did not know yet who she could trust among the other slaves. "Thank you for your healing." She said and smiled genuinely at the mage. He smiled back. "I would try to avoid getting into similar situations in the future." He looked down as he said this "the master does not always heal his slaves." Hawke nodded at that, she would have to ensure that the master found her to be valuable and trustworthy in the future.

The mage got up to leave and suddenly Hawke panicked "wait!" she said. He turned and looked at her, "what else can you tell me about this new master of mine." Without trying to, she had emphasized the word master and it came out sounding harsher than she had meant it to. "There is not much else I can tell you, but, I can see that you are not the slave type, be careful in this place, it can destroy even the strongest spirit." He turned and left then.

Hawke considered what the mage had told her, she suddenly felt very small and alone. If the last few weeks had taught her anything it was that she was not as indestructible as she had once felt herself to be. She had been captured as a slave, beaten almost to the point of death, and right now felt the pressures of being in an alien land, and alone. She hung her head, perhaps it would not be that difficulty to play the part of broken slave.

Just then Fenris entered the room, he didn't really acknowledge her presence, didn't even look her in the eye, "I brought you something to eat" and he handed her a plate of bread and some kind of mystery meat and a cup. She took them from him, suddenly aware of the fact that her clothes were mostly shredded and her shirt was dangerously close to falling apart right there in front of him. "um" she said "could you perhaps find me some clothes, there isn't much left of these." He looked at her then, realizing she would need replacements. He quickly left the room.

Not much for conversation are you? She said quietly to herself as she nibbled on the food that he had brought her. He returned after a time with a change of clothes, they weren't much, but at least they were whole, she wouldn't have to struggle to keep her shirt from slipping off. She put the plate of food down and started to take off the remains of her shirt when she noticed that he was now staring at her with those intense green eyes of his. She raised her eyebrow and looked at him with a question in her eyes, he did not respond though so she had to ask him to turn around so that she could dress.

He looked at her strangely but then did as she asked. There wasn't much room in the tiny cell, but he turned to inspect the bricks in the wall with his back to her. She dressed quickly and then said "you can turn around now."

Fenris clearly did not understand her need for privacy while she dressed, perhaps it was because the slaves were shoved into such tight quarters that they hardly noticed each others state of dress or undress as it were. Hawke however was painfully aware that she was a lone female amongst the guards. And so she clung to this last remaining bit of dignity that she had.

She looked at Fenris as he stood there, he was quite an imposing figure. He was tall for an elf and broad. Not as broad as human males, but by the looks of him he was quite accustomed to hard training as he was all lean muscle, lithe was the word that came to mind. His armor was of a dark leather material, and his gauntlets ended in vicious claws at his fingertips. The strangest thing about him was that he was barefoot, well sort of. There was some sort of material that covered the instep of his foot, but left his toes and heels bare. Hawke had never seen anything like it. Perhaps she would be able to ask him about it later?

She was intrigued by what she saw. He was different from any other man, elf or human than she had ever seen before. His hair was white, the same color as the unusual markings that entwined his arms while his eyebrows were dark, almost black. It made him look strangely exotic. He had the angular facial features common for most elves, the same odd nose that was a common feature she had noted. But on him it seemed to fit, the longer she looked at him, the more she decided that he was indeed handsome. His ears had a delicate point to them, she wondered if those long ears allowed him to hear better than humans. But the most striking feature of his were the intense green eyes, when he looked at her at times it felt as if he could see right through her, into her soul. She had no idea that he was thinking similar thoughts of her.

Fenris stood quietly with his arms folded across his chest as he observed her while eating. There was something about her, he had no idea what it was, but every time he was near her he had a strange feeling deep in his gut, he felt warm and for the first time in his life he was unsure of himself. It was frustrating to him, she was just a woman, a human, woman, at that. Why did he get this strange feeling? Fenris had nothing to compare his feelings to and he was confused. He frowned while he tried to understand. He shook the feelings off, he would not allow this strange sensation to interfere with her training. He had already decided to train her and ensure that she survived to become one of Danarius' trusted guards. From somewhere deep inside him, he wanted her alive, wanted to have the chance to fight by her side. He decided that this would be enough for now.

She looked at him then, looked into those green, green eyes of his. He found that he couldn't seem to breathe for a moment, her eyes were the color of the ocean, it reminded him of the deep blue color of the seas of Seheron. He felt for a moment that he could get lost in those eyes. Hawke had no idea she was having this effect on him. She noted that he seemed to be frowning at her now, had she done something wrong? As she looked at him she wondered if he would be an ally in her escape attempt? Only time will tell.

"So what now" she asked around a bite of food. Fenris realized he had been staring and brought his mind back to the moment. "Now I suppose we will resume your training, do you think you are up to it?" "It depends" said Hawke, "I don't think I'm up to sparring with you, but perhaps we could just run through some fighting poses?" she suggested. "I don't think my body is ready for anything too strenuous at the moment."

"I agree" he said "that is very wise of you, perhaps we could do some simple fighting poses and stretching exercise until you are fully recovered." Hawke nodded in agreement. Fenris stood against the wall, waiting patiently for her to finish her meal. He stood strangely still, Hawke could not imagine having the discipline to remain in one place for so long. He didn't even seem to twitch a finger. After a time Hawke even began to forget that he was there, perhaps this was the purpose of being so still. She could see the benefit of it, she herself had worked on the skill of blending into the shadows, to become un-noticed so that she could listen in on conversations. Fenris brought this skill to another level though. She did not have that kind of discipline, at least not now.

"I am ready" she said to Fenris. She stood up testing her legs, she still felt a bit unsteady, but was determined to persevere. She looked at Fenris "what no chains?" "I do not think that will be necessary at the moment" he replied.

Fenris walked ahead of her out of the cell, she followed obediently. They entered the courtyard where she had fought before, the sun blinding her for a moment. Her eyes were not used to the brightness and it took a moment before they adjusted. She noticed that it was just the two of them in the courtyard. She was relieved to note that she would not have to deal with any of the other guards.

Fenris got into a fighting stance with his feet set apart and brought his arms in front of him slowly. He looked at her questioningly, she supposed he wanted her to copy his movements and so she did. She stood next to him stretching and mimicking the movements of holding a sword as if in an imaginary battle. They did this for a time, thrusting and parrying their pretend blades, Hawke felt her muscles beginning to loosen, the stretching exercises were having the desired effect.

After a time she found herself beginning to tire, she had still not fully recovered from the events of the last few weeks and as the sun beat down on her she was starting to sweat and it was burning into the remaining wounds on her back. She looked up into the sun for a moment, trying to gauge the time of day. It seemed to be late afternoon, was it always so hot here? There was no breeze and she began to feel woozy. She wanted to ask Fenris for a break, but just then he must have noticed her discomfort for he spoke for the first time since they entered the courtyard.

"Perhaps we should take a break." She merely nodded her agreement and began to follow him as he walked toward the well at the far end of the courtyard, she found that her legs had begun to cramp and after taking a single step found herself in a heap on the ground. She cursed her feet for not cooperating with her. Fenris turned back to see what had happened and walked back to her. "Are you all right?" he asked "Yes" she said "its just this damned heat" she said in an angry voice. Fenris chuckled slightly while he looked at her "is that what it is?" He offered her his hand to help her up off the ground.

Hawke took it and stood and heard Fenris gasp loudly as she stood. He removed his hand from hers quickly and his features quickly went back to that blank look that was so often present on his face. Hawke was confused, what had just happened? When she looked at the elf she could tell that he was in no mood for conversation, not that he ever was, so she decided to ignore it and followed him to the well for a cool drink of water. She sat by the wall in what little bit of shade she could find and closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax. Fenris sat down next to her leaning against the wall at their back. She chanced a look at him out of the corner of her eye and saw that he looked grim. She wondered what he was thinking about.

Fenris was angry at himself, how had he so quickly forgotten how much he hated being touched. It seemed that he forgot many things when he was near this woman and it only served to frustrate him more. He had reached out to help her up off the ground, he had expected his lyrium markings to burn at the touch of another only to find that he had felt nothing. It was strange and perplexing to him.

He stared at his hand as he puzzled it out. The only thing he had felt when she placed her hand in his was the feel of her skin against his. He looked at the lines that had been burned into his palm. Every time his markings came into contact with the skin of another they had always burned. His master had used this to his advantage frequently. But it hadn't happened this time, why?

This barbarian woman was strange and different in some way that he did not understand. When his master or her apprentice touched him he had felt pain, his markings burned as if on fire. Perhaps it was their magic? But when he had been touched by other slaves he had felt the same thing, but not this new slave. He had no idea why it was different with her. He made up his mind that he would have to risk touching her skin again to determine if what he began to suspect was true or not. The thought was disquieting, he had never before wanted to touch anyone and the thought of doing it of his own free will was disturbing to say the least. He shook his head to stop this train of thought and focused back on the moment.

He decided that in her weakened state she probably would not be able to train anymore today and decided that they would return to the slave quarters and see if he could find any food for the both of them. He was still hungry, the slaves were never given very much to eat and he had given most of his share to her.

"I think that you have had enough for one day, let us go and see if we can find some food for dinner and we will start again tomorrow." He said. Hawke nodded and followed him as he got up and made his way back to the slave quarters. She followed him into the large gathering hall and she felt the weight of many sets of eyes staring at her. It made her uncomfortable.

As they approached the cooking fire she was handed a bowl of broth and some bread, she was thankful for it but could not understand why they were eating hot broth in this weather. An older woman with kind eyes smiled at her as she had handed her the food. Hawke smiled back "so you are the new slave that the master brought back from the market" she said " the rest of us have been wondering when we would be able to get a look at you." Hawke began to realize that she had become the topic of conversation amongst the other slaves. "We have all been wondering what a barbarian looks like" the woman said with a mischievous smile on her face. Hawke looked the woman in the eye and saw that there was no malice behind her words, only curiosity. Hawke smirked and said "I really do not understand why everyone keeps calling me that, is that what you call everyone from Ferelden?" The woman smiled in response, "yes, it seems that Tevinters all think that your country is full of nothing but slobbering dogs. But you do not look like a dog." She said with a chuckle.

Hawke had to laugh at this, but she replied in a serious tone "it is sad that the rest of the world think of us in this way, it seems to me that Tevinter is the one that is uncivilized." The woman looked at her with a questioning look on her face. "We do not keep slaves in Ferelden." That put a damper on their conversation and the woman merely said "aye, you may have a point there." She turned and went back to her chores at the cooking fire.

Hawke retreated to one of the empty seats at the nearest long table, Fenris following quietly behind her. She sat down and began eating. She wanted to see if she could get the elf to say more than a few words to her. "So" she began, "tell me about yourself Fenris." Fenris looked at her but did not immediately respond. Hawke waited trying to be patient. "What is it you want to know?" he said.

"Well, for starters how did you become one of the master, um Danarius' body guards?" His brows furrowed as he thought of that. Fenris did not remember anything before receiving his lyrium markings, he did not feel like sharing this information with her however. "There is nothing to tell, the master values my skills in battle." Hawke frowned; this elf was proving to be difficult. If he was going to be following her around she had to find a way to determine if he would be a help or a hindrance in her escape attempts.

"Are those markings lyrium?" she asked as she pointed at the exposed markings on his arms that could be seen through his armor. "They are" he said and it seemed like this was the end of the conversation. Hawke reached out tentatively with her hand as if she was going to touch one of the markings, Fenris moved out of her reach quickly giving her an evil glare as he did so. "Ever since receiving these markings I have found that the touch of another makes them burn." "Oh" said Hawke, "but you helped me up in the courtyard." Mmph was his only response. "I'm sorry " Hawke said "did it hurt when you helped me up?"

Fenris thought about how to phrase his answer. "The contact was quick so there was no pain that I noticed." He decided that the lie was the best answer as he had yet to figure out why it had not hurt when she touched his hand earlier. He needed more time to puzzle out the answer as to why.

They finished their meal in silence; Hawke's stomach was feeling better already. She looked around the room and many other slaves were appearing at the tables for their evening meal. She recognized the elf that had used the poultice on her back, Kender was his name and she waved at him and smiled as he looked for a place to sit.

He sat down near her on the bench, "how are you feeling?" he asked her. "I'm much better now, they sent a mage to heal my wounds, though I'm sure you made it much easier for him to do his work what with your elfroot poultice." She said and smiled warmly at him. "You give me too much credit" he said, "I did not do much, but I am glad to see you well and whole."

Hawke watched him while he ate, she noticed he had the same high cheekbones prominent among elves, and the same sharp angled facial features. His eyes were large. All elves seemed to have similarly large beautiful eyes, Kender's were amber, a deep honey color and as she looked in them she felt his piercing stare. Did all elves have those expressive eyes and why did she find elves so intriguing? She had never been around elves much before now and she found herself being attracted to them in some strange way. This was the second time she found herself staring into the eyes of an elf and feeling herself become kind of tingly. She had to get a grip on herself.

She learned that Kender had been captured not far from Denerim as she had been. Apparently he was on some sort of mission as a courier when he was captured. He had lived in the Denerim Alienage and had taken the job of delivering some sort of message to a group of soldiers just outside the city gates. They spoke of Ferelden and the things that they would miss from their homeland. They both wondered how their countrymen were dealing with the blight that now threatened to destroy the land.

After a time Kender left expressing once again that he was glad Hawke had survived her ordeal. Hawke thanked him and watched him walk out of the room probably toward his own cell that he would be locked in for the night. She turned her gaze back to Fenris, "will I be allowed to wash up before you lock me in for the night?" Fenris considered what she said and stated "If you wish to bathe I will take you there, but we must go soon before all the slaves are locked in for the night." Hawke nodded and stood up to go.

Fenris rose from the table and led her out of the room. They wandered down twisting hallways before Fenris stopped in front of the bathing room. He nodded to her to go inside while he stood guard in front of the door. Hawke looked around the room once she was alone and noticed with disgust that the small tub in the room was filled with dirty water. Upon scanning the room she found a small bucket of water that looked clean and decided that a quick wash with a piece of cloth and the water in the bucket was the better choice. She took off her clothes and did the best she could, finally picking up the bucket to pour it over her head and relished the feeling of the cool water on her skin and hair. She dried herself with one of the dingy towels in the room and redressed feeling better than she had in some time.

She opened the door to the bathing chamber to find Fenris in much the same position as she had left him and together they walked back to her cell. She was tired and actually looked forward to resting. It had been a long day and she was exhausted. Fenris locked her in her room and she closed her eyes as sleep seemed to overtake her quickly.


	9. Chapter 9

I have to say that it was quite a thrill to get feedback on my story, it makes me motivated to keep going and I'm glad that you enjoy it! Keep them coming!

And now for the usual Bioware owns all, I'm just playing with their characters.

~OoOoOoOo~

Chapter 9 - Preparations

Although sleep came quickly Hawke did not rest well. For the first few seconds after she woke as she was still fighting off the fuzziness of sleep she almost expected to wake up in her bedroom in Lothering. Those precious few seconds between sleep and wakefulness she could almost remember her life before, but then it was gone in the blink of an eye as she remembered where she was.

Her back ached and her head hurt, her body felt like she had spent the whole night thrashing around and hadn't gotten any real rest. She was sweating from the intensity of her nightmare but cold at the same time.

She sighed loudly as reality came crashing back to her as she took in her surroundings, her cell. Hawke was generally an optimistic person, always able to see the bright side of things, but as time passed this was becoming more difficult.

She got up and explored the walls and floor of the cell, examining the individual stones in the wall for any weak spots. The walls were wet and dank with mold but seemed to be solid. The door itself seemed made of solid metal with a slit at the bottom where food could be pushed through. She found nothing of interest.

She rubbed at the collar that was still around her neck feeling for anything that might indicate how to remove it. She found nothing. She wondered to herself if her master would ever take it off. It was starting to rub her skin raw. She wondered what plans the master of the household had for her, it was strange to think that mages would takes others with magical talent to be slaves. This was indeed a strange country and she was beginning to think that the Chantry had been right when they spoke of the evils of Tevinter and the Magisters that ruled it.

Her movement inside the cell must have alerted someone outside because she heard a key turn in the lock and the door opened. Fenris appeared in the doorway, she knew it was him, his white hair was easy to see even in the gloom.

He merely nodded to her and she followed as they got their breakfast, if that's what you could call it. They each got bowls of some kind of grey gruel. And while it had little flavor it did fill the hole in her stomach.

"So what is the plan for today Fenris" she asked. He answered without looking at her, "we will continue your training. The master has decreed that your test will be five days from now." "I see" she said "can you tell me exactly what this test will involve."

Fenris considered his answer before he spoke "I do not know the specifics of the test itself, but I do know that the master has invited several other magisters to watch. It seems that you are something of a novelty here and there is nothing that Danarius enjoys more than to show off his power to other Magisters. It is for this reason that it is imperative that we resume your training without any more delays."

"I'm not sure I understand, he has invited others to watch?" "Yes" said Fenris. "He has invited many guests, the whole household is preparing for the event." Hawke groaned, the unease she had been feeling only intensified at this news.

"What happens if I lose?" she asked. Fenris looked her in the eyes and his face was grim "then your death with be the highlight of the day." "Maker help me" said Hawke under her breath.

"Are you ready?" Fenris asked. "Yes, lets get started." They walked to Rinval's office while Fenris got the key to the weapons room and Fenris picked out dull blades and a leather vest for Hawke. He picked up a greatsword for himself and they proceeded out to the training yard.

After a short warm up session Fenris faced opposite Hawke and instructed her to attack him. It was difficult for her because their fighting styles were so different, not to mention that she was used to using magic during a fight, but after a time they found a rhythm. Fenris was a good teacher and was able to point out when she lowered her guard and left herself open for attack, while she danced around him Fenris found himself impressed with her quickness and ability to be just out of reach as he swung his massive sword.

Fenris pushed her hard, he knew what would happen if their master was not impressed with her skills. At lunch time they were both sweaty and tired, but satisfied that things were progressing well. After a brief break they were back at it again.

Hawke did not complain, even though her body was screaming at her to stop. They kept on like this until it was nearly dark and when Fenris finally indicated that it was time to stop Hawke nearly fell into the common room at one of the benches and did not have the energy to go to the cook fire to get her dinner. Fenris got enough food for both of them and they ate in silence, she was nearly asleep at the table when Fenris spoke to her again.

"Come, it is time for you to rest." She did not argue and followed along to her cell and was asleep nearly as soon as her body hit the cot.

They continued on in this manner for the next two days, time was starting to blur and even though the training sessions were difficult, Hawke pushed on. Although she secretly thought to herself that if he kept pushing her this hard there would be nothing left when the time of her test arrived.

Fenris was testing her, testing her determination. If she was to survive she would have to learn to cope with these harsh conditions. Secretly Fenris was enjoying training with her, she didn't complain and she was a fast learner. It was obvious to him that she had never had training from a warrior such as himself, but she adapted well and never seemed to make the same mistake twice. But time was running out.

On the third day when they arrived at the training yard, there were four other guards present. They nodded to her and Fenris explained "today we will train against men who use a long sword and shield, the technique is different and the shield is as much a weapon as it is a defense."

Hawke listened as Fenris ordered the guards to attack him. She tried to take in everything, watching how they attacked with both their shields and swords, parrying and swinging. After a time he ordered Hawke to step in while he stood on the sidelines and watched. He did not speak while they were sparring but would stop and correct her stance at times and point out her errors and strengths. Each man wore different armor and Fenris pointed out the weak spots in each.

Hawke could not remember when she had worked so hard or been so tired, but it had an added benefit. Their training made her so tired that she slept without dreaming for the first time in months.

It was at the end of the day when they were just about to return to the slave quarters when Hawke looked up to see a woman watching them. She knew she had seen her face before but could not remember who she was. The guards they had been sparring with left quickly when they saw her and when Fenris recognized the woman his face fell.

Hawke studied the woman more closely, she was wearing mage robes. They were a pale blue color that matched her eyes, she also had her hair in some sort of intricate updo with jewels woven in it. Her clothing and jewelry spoke of wealth and power. Although pretty, Hawke felt that her eyes were cold and lifeless. The woman looked downright evil. She looked at Fenris with something akin to hunger? When she realized that Hawke was looking at her she frowned and walked over to where they stood.

"Do not stare at me slave" she said to Hawke, who glanced at Fenris and noted that he was staring at the ground. Hawke was confused, this was not their master, she knew he was a man. Then it dawned on her, this was the woman who had been in his quarters that first night she had been brought here, but she couldn't remember much else about her. She shivered involuntarily.

Hawke couldn't help it, she looked at the woman again, she had not been a slave long enough to know that just looking into the eyes of the master or one of his fellow magisters was considered disrespectful. The woman caught her looking again and smirked at Hawke "you really are a thick headed barbarian aren't you." Then she reached out her hand to Hawke and recited some sort of incantation and her body suddenly exploded with pain. It was so intense it knocked her to her knees and the woman laughed. The bitch was enjoying herself.

The pain stopped just as suddenly as it began and Hawke was able to catch her breath. Fenris was still staring at the ground, keeping his face blank of any emotion.

The woman turned to Fenris then "so how are you enjoying the masters new pet?" It was not a question she really expected an answer to and Fenris kept silent. "I still don't understand his fascination with her, but perhaps her death will be entertainment enough and then we can be rid of this Ferelden scum!"

Hadrianna paced around Hawke as she kneeled upon the ground eyeing her. Then she grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back and said "I know it will be the highlight of my day." As she said this she smiled a fake sweet smile. Hawke mentally cursed the woman and vowed to herself that one day she would kill this woman as well as her master. Someone this evil and vile should not be allowed to live.

The woman let go of Hawke and turned her attention to Fenris then, she spoke in Arcanum to him so Hawke could not understand their words. She could however hear the poison in her words as her voice lowered and she spoke with a hint of breathiness to her voice.

Hawke watched from the corner of her eye as Hadrianna got very close to Fenris and stroked his arm, she could see him stiffen at her touch, but he did not move. At that instance Hawke was relieved that she couldn't understand their words, she didn't think she wanted to know what was transpiring between them. She also got the distinct impression that Fenris was struggling to remain impassive.

He had told her that being touched was painful to him and this woman was stroking him like a favorite pet, one that she had perhaps missed playing with. It was a strange thought.

Hadrianna spoke to Fenris again and while Hawke watched she could see lines of tension around his eyes and his jaw was clenched. She wondered what he had to endure at the hands of this woman.

Feeling like she was intruding on something that Fenris would rather she not see she stared at the ground until Hadrianna swept past her and went back inside the main building. Fenris stomped past her without even a word and Hawke got up and followed him inside.

They ate their evening meal in silence, Fenris' mouth was pulled into a tight line and he looked as if he was ready to explode so Hawke kept quiet. He never was much on conversation and by the look of his brooding demeanor she figured that it was the best course of action.

When she had been returned to her cell Hawke once again fell into a blissful sleep free of any dreams or nightmares. Exhaustion had its benefits after all.

The next morning Rinval was the one who came and led her out of her cell. "We will practice in the arena today, it is where your test will be held and you should familiarize yourself it." Hawke nodded in response and followed Rinval and a small group of guards as they went upstairs and wound their way through numerous hallways while being watched by the servants wary eyes.

It took quite a while before they arrived at a set of double doors that led outside. They then walked down a winding path on the grounds until they arrived at what Rinval had said was the arena. It was a large open space surrounded on all sides by raised seating areas that went progressively higher. It was decorated with banners and flags, probably denoting the master's house, all of them in bright colors.

She could make out several sets of large bars at ground level, she tried to fathom what they were for. Perhaps this was where the fighters would enter the ring? Her mind had trouble grasping the fact that they were still on the masters grounds, the place was as big as a castle. No wonder he needed his own private army to guard the place.

Rinval ordered her to spar with the guards that accompanied them, her mind wandered, where was Fenris? She usually worked with him but he was absent today. She couldn't help but think that it had something to do with the visit from the female magister, Hadrianna? She thought that was her name.

Rinval had them all sparring and giving pointers to her while she fought them, but she couldn't focus. She kept wondering if something bad had happened to Fenris. The master had appointed him to watch over her hadn't he? She hoped that he was all right.

She wasn't even sure why, but the tall elf intrigued her. He was handsome to be sure, but he was also so … she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about him that attracted her to him.

One of her sparring partners got in a few good hits on her and it brought her mind back on the current situation. If she wanted to survive she would have to remain focused. She shook her head and fought back against the other guards with renewed determination.

The day was long and when she was finally brought back to the slave quarters, there was no sign of Fenris. She sent a silent prayers to the maker that he was well and retreated to her cell and one of the guards locked her in.

Her final testing was to be tomorrow afternoon, she wasn't sure what to expect but knew that it was crucial for her to perform well so she forced those thoughts out of her mind as she relaxed her body, trying to get what rest she could.


	10. Chapter 10

I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter posted, for some reason I had a hard time getting started with it, but I hope that you will enjoy its added length. I will try to make more regular updates in the future. Thanks to everyone who has commented and followed my story, its so exciting each time I get an e-mail alert. Please feel free to comment if you like or even if you don't. Enjoy!

Bioware owns all characters and if you recognize it, its not mine, unfortunately.

~oOoOoOoOo~

Chapter 10 – The Testing

The next morning Hawke awoke sweaty and shaking from her dreams yet again. It seemed like she would never be free of them, the ones last night had been bad to say the least. She dreamt of her last days in Lothering when the darkspawn had over run the village. She could still see the faces of her friends and family. She remembered how they died, she shook herself and tried to will the images from her mind, it was not an easy task.

She had to focus on today, her survival depended on it she knew. After the testing was over there would be time enough to grieve and to remember, but not now.

Her cell door creaked open and Rinval stood before her already dressed in his armor. It was still early, the first few rays of light were just beginning to creep into the depths of the masters cellars. "Go to the kitchens and grab your breakfast quickly while I round up the rest of the guards, we head for the testing grounds soon." He said.

Hawke nodded and did what he said, it was the first time that she had been allowed to walk without an escort and it felt strange. Usually Fenris was there to lead her through the days activities and she found herself wondering where he was.

The slave galley was buzzing with activity and there was a large group of guards whispering amongst themselves as she made her way to the cooking fires. Breakfast was the usual grey gruel, but at least it was filling and hot.

It wasn't long before Rinval called out "all guards and trainees who are to go to the testing grounds form up in a double line." Hawke was surprised at the sheer number. She got in line herself and soon they were all ushered up the stairs and out onto the grounds. They marched in relative silence as the sun was just beginning to rise.

Hawke lifted her chin and felt the morning breeze kiss her face, it was warm. It was always warm here in Tevinter and it felt like today would be no different. How she missed the cool breezes of Ferelden, the smells of the forest. She sighed to herself, would she ever get back to her homeland? And even if she did, would there be anything left of it?

Once again her mind had wandered to places better left alone. She focused on putting one foot in front of the other, trying desperately to focus on the tasks ahead of her. She wondered who she would have to fight. Fenris had told her that the battle would be too the death. She looked around at the other guards marching along with her. Would she have to kill one of them?

It didn't seem fair, but then again life wasn't fair was it? If life or the Maker had been fair to her she would still be in Lothering with her family and there would be no blight upon the land. No sense dwelling on the fairness of her current situation.

Before long they arrived at the arena, there were no spectators in the stands yet but there were servants; no check that , they were slaves running here and there in preparation for the days events. She could smell the smoke of barbeque pits cooking fine meats and banners and flags were still being hung around the arena.

Hawke had a hard time wrapping her mind around what was happening, all of this was just to test the new slaves the master had bought. No, she thought to herself, this was to be a demonstration of his power and wealth. Her master must be trying very hard to impress someone.

Rinval spoke up then, separating the rogues from the warriors and then breaking them into smaller groups based on his observation of their skills. They were speaking in Tevinter and Hawke didn't know what was being discussed. He motioned to several guards who then took charge of the smaller groups and marched them off into different directions. Her group was herded toward a gate in the lowest portion of the arena and she found herself locked behind iron bars with ten or twelve others. They had a good view of the training arena from where they were, she would be able to watch all the fights easily. She eyed the rest of the group around her, wondering if she would have to fight one or some of them later.

Time passed and she sat down in the corner of the holding area waiting for something to happen. After a time a cart creaked outside and one by one all of the guards in her section were brought forward and fitted with armor. She noticed that all the pieces given to them seemed to be similar in color and design.

Hawke herself was given a breastplate, gloves, and grieves made of shining silver metal. It was accented with red padding. She smiled inwardly, red was her favorite color. This was a good sign.

The armor was not the finest, but it seemed sturdy enough. It was difficult to get her armor on with her collar getting in the way, but in the end she managed it. They were also given weapons, Hawke was given two daggers of silverite, they seemed sharp and were well balanced. She tested their weight in her hands and twirled them without thinking.

After this was complete another guard stepped forward, one she did not recognize and began giving them their instructions. She listened quietly as they were told that they would be fighting as a unit against others that were chosen to be their opponents. They would be expected to show no mercy because none would be shown to them.

When this was done the group was left alone once again and Hawke cast glances to those that she would be fighting with once again. Several of them seemed to be comfortable with the blades they were given and she hoped that they were all skilled fighters because she intended to survive this test.

The sun was well up in he sky now and as she suspected the wind held the promise of another hot day. There was very little breeze that managed to penetrate the holding area she was in, before long they would all be sweaty and uncomfortable. Hawke watched as the seats around the arena began to fill up with the masters guests. She noted that the guests were all dressed in their finest clothes and surrounded by what she suspected were their own house slaves.

Everyone was speaking in excited tones as slaves ran amongst them offering them food and drink and seeing to the guests needs, and getting them seated in comfort. Hawke was amazed at the spectacle that was unfolding before her eyes. She still did not see her master, she wasn't even sure she would recognize him amongst all the guests dressed in fine silks and jewels.

Every once in a while a visiting mage would wander to the holding area as if to inspect the fighters and discuss between themselves who looked the most promising of the bunch. Apparently there were bets being taken on the outcome of the matches. The magisters would beckon a fighter forward to inspect his weapons and size, asking them to flex their muscle and turn around trying to judge their fighting ability.

Hawke herself was called forward to the bars and inspected several times, she tried to ignore their chittering and place a mask of indifference on her face, but she knew she heard the word barbarian spoken more than a few times. Her nerves were starting to get the best of her and she wished that they would just get on with it already

After more time had passed a man came forward dressed in splendid mage robes, Hawke thought she recognized the face of her master. Her suspicions were correct as she saw him come closer and recognized Fenris standing off to the side and behind him. He was dressed in grey and red robes, with more jewels on his fingers and around his neck than she had ever seen before.

He had a huge fake looking grin on his face as he came forward to the bars in front of her group. "Ah, and here is my newest guard to be, is my little barbarian ready to fight today?" He said while looking straight at her. "Indeed, I am ready master" she replied as she bowed her head. The word master was difficult for her to say, but she swallowed her pride and forced herself to say it, she didn't want anything to go wrong today.

She wanted to get that blasted collar off and she figured that this was the only way she was going to make that happen. She hoped that if she performed well and showed fighting skill that he would remove the stupid thing from her neck.

She chanced a glance at Fenris while her head was bowed, but he too was staring at the ground and did not look up at all. She studied him more closely and noticed that he seemed more broody than usual today. His mouth was set in a thin line and she could see the lines of stress around his eyes. She wondered about it.

Perhaps after this was all over she could approach him and find out where he had been the past days. Someone Hawke did not recognize started speaking to her master just then.

"Danarius, this slave of yours seems hardly capable to fight, she is so small, I hope that all your effort and the coin you spent will be worth it." "Oh do not fear my friend, I am certain that she will show us all her skills today, I was told by he slavers who captured her that it took more than ten men to take her down." He said while smiling broadly.

"Yes, well we shall see Danarius, if nothing else it will be pleasant to enjoy your hospitality for a day." The man smiled at her master and bowed to him. "Indeed, let us take our seats then so that the show may begin."

With that her master turned his back to her and proceeded to his seat at the front of the arena followed by his multitude of slaves that were shadowing him. Fenris included. As he reached his seat he stood and addressed the crowds in attendance.

"My esteemed fellow mages and magisters, I bid you welcome to my estate and invite you to partake of the many delicacies offered to you today." He smiled broadly and motioned his hand toward the many slaves who were flitting amongst the guests offering food and drink. "Today as you all know is the annual celebration of my becoming a magister of the senate, it is tradition that decrees a celebration to honor this event, I hope you enjoy. Let the games begin!"

His voice must have been magically altered to be louder than normal because it seemed to boom across the arena. Hawke wondered how it was that she understood his words, normally he spoke in Arcanum or Tevinter when speaking to other magisters but she understood his words perfectly.

As she watched; a squad of fighters walked into the arena, she noted that their armors were silver and green, others marched onto the field and their armors were accented by blues. Apparently all the squads had been given different colors to differentiate them from each other. A flag was dropped and she heard Danarius yell "Begin"

The two groups clashed, it was difficult for her eyes to follow everything that was going on. The men were fighting fiercely swords clashing and armor glinting in the bright sun. The crowds cheered as a warrior got a particularly brutal shot on one of his opponents staggering him back and making him fall to the ground. A referee of sorts gave a signal and the man was removed from the field.

It appeared that this fight was not to the death, the pattern continued and as one man fell he was removed from the ring and returned to the holding areas. Hawke breathed a sigh of relief, perhaps the master could not afford to lose too many of his guards at once. She felt relieved a bit, but Fenris and Rinval's words came back to her and she knew that eventually the blood bath would begin. She could not imagine that the magisters would be satisfied unless they watched at least a few slaves die a horrible and gruesome death.

Hawke watched as the blue team had been declared the winner and the crowds cheered for the victors. The blue team in turn held up their weapons and in a rare display of emotion yelled and pounded their chests, enjoying the adrenalin of the moment.

As they left the field a group of jugglers and acrobats dressed in ridiculously bright and outlandish clothes to entertain the crowds walked into the arena. They jumped and juggled and danced around while the downed guards were removed. After that another group was led onto the playing field and again swords clashed and the sound of metal on metal could be heard.

This time the victor was the team with the bright orange. Again the jesters and jugglers took to the field, Hawke watched it all with trepidation. Her turn on the field was sure to come soon.

Just as she thought that a guard came and opened the door to the holding cell she was in and indicated that it was their turn to take the field. Hawke gulped and tilted her head up as she marched onto the field with the others. The team they were fighting against was wearing purple. The signal was given and Hawke leapt into the battle.

Her previously tensed muscles were finally allowed the movement she had been craving and she fought with a vengeance hitting and kicking and twirling her way around the battlefield. Time felt like it had sped up and before she knew it the fight was over and her red team had triumphed.

It felt good to hear the crowds cheering and Hawke found herself yelling along with the others in her group. She couldn't help herself, she had a huge grin plastered to her face and she was slapping and hugging the others of her group in celebration. The victory was short lived though as they were led back to the holding cells, she began to feel the strain of the days events. Her muscles ached and her nerves were frayed. At least she survived this first round.

Back in the holding cells another slave came around with a jug and ladle giving them water. Hawke smiled when she saw who was serving them, it was Kender. She had not seen him in several days and it felt good to see a friendly face. He smiled back at her as he gave her the water.

"It is good to see you Hawke, you fought well, I am glad to see that your injuries have not caused you any permanent damage." She looked up into those large amber eyes of his and was mesmerized for a moment and had to fight herself to form coherent words. "It is good to see you as well Kender, I am sure that the only reason I stand here today is because of your skills with poultices and healing."

Kender smiled and said "You give me too much credit, but your welcome anyway." He gave a furtive glance behind him before he continued speaking, "I do not have much time, but I wanted to be able to wish you luck in the fights yet to come." Hawke smiled once again amazed at the fact that she had become tongue tied in the presence of an elf. For some reason which she could not determine she found elven men to be handsome and was attracted to them more than she had been with any human man.

She quickly banished those thoughts from her head and said "I wondered what happened to you as I never saw you down in the slave quarters after you healed me." "I have been assigned to work in the gardens, my skills as an herbalist have been put to use there, I find that I enjoy working there cultivating the masters plants and making salves and poultices. I am somewhat sheltered from the master and the other slaves and have quarters that were given to me in the barns." "I see" said Hawke. "Perhaps we will be able to speak again back at the mansion." His nod and the twinkle in his eye indicated to her that he would enjoy that. He left quickly then, before it would be noticed that he had spent longer than the expected amount of time serving the fighters.

Hawke felt better, just seeing Kender had lifted her spirits and she looked forward to seeking him out sometime in the future. For the briefest of moments Hawke didn't feel so bad about her circumstances and she allowed herself to relax as she thought of him and his warm amber eyes.

Eventually her thoughts returned to Fenris once again. He had seemed more grim than usual when she saw him guarding their master and wondered about what had happened to make him seem so distant. Perhaps it was just that their master was in his presence and he dared not show any signs that he cared whether or not she lived or died.

She looked out onto the arena and watched as a group of what she presumed to be slaves took the field. They did not wear colors as the previous fighters had and she wondered about that. She heard Danarious' voice boom out once again, "and now we have something different for your entertainment, this group of slaves has displeased me, I have granted them a pardon if they survive the fight that is to come." He smiled broadly and signaled the start of combat.

As Hawke watched with large eyes a bronto came charging out of one of the cells at the side of the arena. The slaves scattered and it was easy to tell from their movements that most of them had not been trained as fighters. They were here as fodder to give the mages the blood that they craved.

She watched in horror as one of the men was trampled underneath the feet of the charging animal. The others were either trying to get a hit in on the animal or running to the opposite side of the arena. One of the larger men actually managed to get a decent hit with his sword, but it didn't do much beyond making the animal angrier as it screamed its rage in a loud bleat. It turned back around quickly and charged the man who had no chance to get out of the way before he too was trampled.

The arena floor was now stained with the blood of the slaves. She looked up and observed the faces of the spectators, their faces reflected not the horror of watching people die, they were excited and she could see it reflected in their eyes. She felt sick, how could anyone enjoy this.

As she turned her attention back to the ring it was just in time to see a slave get himself pinned against the side of the arena, she looked away as the animal rammed into him and the poor mans blood and innards were splayed all over the wall and ground. The animal shook its head from side to side bleating its victory as the man crumpled. The magisters were screaming their pleasure at the sight, it all felt surreal. At that moment Hawke was glad that she had not been given anything to eat since breakfast because it probably would have come up now. She fought back the taste of the bile at the back of her throat.

There was apparently another intermission as the jesters and jugglers once again took the field. "I hope that my guests are enjoying the display so far" her master said, "this is only just the beginning" his grin was wide and he was apparently pleased with the way the day was progressing.

"We will take a short break and when we come back we will continue with the elimination rounds." That explained much she thought, the fighters that were victorious from the previous rounds would continue in their combat, presumably until one was left standing, but when would the fights change to fights to the death?

Hawke crouched on the ground in the corner of the holding cell awaiting her turn, she felt as if she would jump out of her skin at any moment. She tried to think back to the feeling she had when Kender came to visit and centered her mind for the battles to come.


	11. Only Room For One

Chapter 11 – Only Room for One

Once again a guard came forward and opened the gates to their cell and sent the red team out onto the field. The battle was not long and before she knew it her team had been declared the winners. As she looked around she noted that their group had dwindled during this bout. They had lost three fighters and their group of twelve was now down to nine.

The day continued in this way, time was beginning to blur. Hawke focused on fighting and tried not to think too much. It didn't seem like any time had passed, but there had been several bouts of fighting and Hawke looked around and noted with dismay that there were only four fighters in her group left.

She wondered about the other groups, had they lost as many as well? Between the pain and the blood lust, Hawke was having a hard time thinking clearly, she knew that her body was growing tired and weaker by the moment.

As she sat in the back of the cell attempting to quiet her raging mind, she heard the voice of what she presumed to be her master once again.

"And now my esteemed colleagues and guests we come to the main event" he paused and a hush fell over the arena. "While the fights until now have been entertaining we have yet to find an individual worthy of joining my elite guard, that is about to change."

Hawke gulped as she listened, a feeling of dread began to settle over her. The doors opened and she noted that what looked like all of the remaining fighters had been led onto the field. They eyed each other suspiciously not knowing what was to come. Hawke counted the remaining fighters, there were ten of them left including herself.

Her master walked out onto the field, she was surprised at this, he seemed like the type who would not want to get a speck of dirt on his pristine clothes. He smiled widely as he approached the group.

"As an elite guard you must not only be able to defend your master against attacks inflicted by blades and shields, but you must also defend against magical attacks as well." He turned toward the stands and Hawke's attention was drawn to the front row and she noted that the masters apprentice was now standing on some sort of raised pedestal and had a staff in hand. As she glanced around the arena she saw several more mages had taken up similar positions around the arena.

"My apprentice and several others have agreed to make the battle to come even more interesting" he said with a sneer. "They will not slay anyone intentionally, only cause… distractions." He said.

The crowd roared with approval, the magisters would be allowed to participate, she wondered what he meant by distractions. Just then he turned to the group and said, "I have room in my guard for only one of you."

As he turned on his heel to return to his seat he flicked his wrist and she felt the power emanate from him and Hawke was shocked to discover that the collar that had been around her neck for so long that it had almost become a part of her broke and fell to the ground.

For a moment her head spun and she fell to her knees as she felt the power of her magic return to her and it crashed into her body and overwhelmed her senses. She could only watch with wide eyes as chaos erupted around her.

Shades and undead creatures suddenly appeared all around the group and began attacking at random. But still she could not get up yet, the magic coursing through her felt foreign at first and it took several moments for Hawke to focus herself. Gradually as the magic stabilized she got up from her knees and was amazed at how good she felt. She took a deep steadying breath and gathered her magic to her for use in the coming battle.

As she drew her blades she saw a creature made of fire grab hold of a guard near her and he fell to the ground, his screams slowly dying as his body gave out. As it turned from the body on the ground its focus turned to her, for the first time in a long time Hawke felt invigorated and smiled at the demon as it approached her.

She jumped forward to intercept it and cast a cold spell in its direction before she began slashing at it with her blades. She used her magic to augment her strength and speed and with a sweep of her blade as she turned her body around in an arch she cut through the thing slicing it cleanly in half. As it went down she could hear its cries getting weaker and then it disintegrated into a pile of ash before her eyes.

She turned then to determine which foe she should go after next, as she watched several more men were brutally cut down and she realized with horror that the creatures were effectively thinning down the ranks of the guards. At least she wouldn't have to kill them herself she thought.

Just then she saw a skeleton warrior approaching from her right and turned to fight, their blades clanging as metal met metal. The skeleton feigned right and then came back with a thrust to her center that she barely missed as she ducked low and swept its feet out from under it. It landed with a thud and she planted her blade firmly in its neck as she kneeled over it, it would fight no more.

Suddenly her body was wracked with pain and she was on her knees again, she knew she had been the target of a magical attack but there was none near her to do such a thing. As she turned and looked to the edge of the arena she saw Hadrianna, Danarius' apprentice grinning widely. The bitch was attacking her! So much for only providing distractions. Hawke swore under her breath and vowed then and there that someday that woman would pay!

Slowly the pain subsided and Hawke was able to stand and fight, she jumped at a shade nearby, leaping to get behind it and then planting both her blades deep into its back, it groaned and disappeared in a cloud of gray smoke.

The battle continued like this for some time, occasionally a wall of flame would appear nearby and Hawke would have to jump out of the way or else be burned to a crisp. Slowly the creatures disappeared one by one as the remaining guards dispatched them quickly as they could.

"HOLD" her master yelled, she froze in place and took a moment to asses the damage. All the creatures were gone and there were only three guards besides herself still standing.

Hawke was panting and sweaty and she noticed that the others looked much the worse for wear as well. One was a rogue like herself using twin blades and the other two appeared to be warriors, one had a huge broadsword similar to the one Fenris favored and the other had a longsword and shield.

They eyed each other as the master said "such serious goings on, I think that perhaps it is time for entertainment of a lighter variety."

Hawke and the others were led off the field, she was returned to her previous cell, this time however, she was alone. She attempted to clean her blades of the accumulated muck and dirt and drank greedily of the water that had been left for her. She sat down once again and closed her eyes, she had no desire to see what sort of entertainment the master thought of as light.

She heard laughter erupting from the stands but did not open her eyes. She assumed that the acrobats and jugglers had returned to the field. It felt like she had just sat down a few minutes ago and a guard arrived ushering her out onto the field.

She faced the warrior with the shield that she had seen fighting earlier, he was not as big as the other one she noted with a sigh of relief, but still, he had survived where others had not.

She heard the word "FIGHT" and both of them fell into a fighting stance. She eyed the man noting that he seemed to be favoring his left side, the previous battle had left them both weak. Then he charged at her leading with his shield, she backed up trying to get out of his way and pivoted on her right leg as she came up behind him. Her blades sank deep into his side and when she looked at his face she saw him smile.

It shocked her and she stood still for a moment before she drew them back. Although his wound was not that severe he fell to the ground and looked her straight in the eye, "finish it" he said. She went to her knees above him and said "why?"

"I have no desire to become a guard for that bastard" he said with hatred in his voice "he killed my wife and child, all I want now is to die and be with them in the afterlife." Hawke could tell that he spoke the truth while looking at his face, suddenly she felt pity for the man. She truly had no desire to guard the old bastard herself, but she was not yet ready to give up and die.

"Very well" she said, "get back up and I will make the end painless." He nodded and then got back onto his feet. Again they squared off against one another, he came forward again but this time his shield was held slightly lower and his sword too high for a square hit. She made use of the opening and brought her dagger across his throat in one smooth motion, cutting him cleanly.

He fell to the ground and before his eyes closed for the last time she thought she could see his features relax and a small smile grace his lips. She had given him the end he desired, but still, it left her with a bad taste in her mouth.

Once again she was led off the field and as she sat in her cell she saw the other two remaining men march onto the field, the rogue and the warrior with the huge sword. She watched carefully, gauging both of their strengths and weaknesses because she knew that she would in turn have to fight one of them.

The rogue was quick, but he was not as efficient with blades as she. The warrior seemed to be winning the battle, though his giant sword took more strength to wield, when he hit it was with such force that the rogue had a hard time recovering his senses. In the end he was knocked to the ground and the warrior fell to the ground beside him and planted his blade firmly in the center of his chest, killing him.

Hawke knew that she could not survive a blow from that sword and that she would have to rely on her speed and agility to stay out of its way. She allowed herself a small smile and thanked the maker for her days of training with Fenris. He used a similar sword and she had learned the moves he favored and knew how to slip in under his guard as he was swinging the massive blade and moving in for an attack. She hoped that luck and the maker would be with her today.

She chanced a glance up toward her master and Fenris, trying to gauge their reaction to the scene. Her master still had that wide grin on his face. She looked at Fenris then, his face was hard, she could detect no emotion behind it. She sighed loudly, she had hoped for at least a small glance of recognition from him, but none would come.

Once again and perhaps for the last time, she was led out of her cell and onto the field. "And now it is down to two" said her master with a sneer. She eyed the man opposite her, his eyes were hard and his face grim. She could tell by just looking at him that he would be the most difficult opponent she had faced so far. He was much taller than her and with that huge sword she knew his reach would make it difficult to get any sort of a hit on him.

This is it, she thought to herself, this is where I live or die. She began gathering her magic to her, working to augment her speed and agility, strength would be useless against this fierce opponent. She cast a quickness spell on herself without so much as moving her lips or her hands, it was a skill she had learned long ago and her opponent would not notice, she hoped.

She heard the command to fight and ducked into a fighting stance trying to determine what the large warrior would do first, she would let him make the first move. They circled each other warily, neither one wanting to break stance to strike at the other.

"What are you waiting for girlie, trying to postpone your death?" The man said with an evil laugh, he was confident in himself, perhaps too confident. If only he would make a stupid mistake Hawke would slip in for the kill, but this was a hardened and trained fighter, he had skill or he would not have advanced this far.

Hawke swore in Fereleden then said "come and get me if you can." She was goading him, trying to force him to move first, it worked. He lunged forward his massive blade held before him, he made no move to swing it, he was trying to catch her off balance before deciding where to swing the blade.

Hawke stepped carefully out of his way and ended up on his right, she moved so quick that he had a hard time following her movements. It went on like this for a time, Hawke trying to keep out of his reach and finally his frustration seemed to be mounting. "Bitch, stand still already and I will end this game."

He swung wildly then, hoping to get in a hit that would make her lose her balance, but she had no intention of getting anywhere near that blade. She could feel the air move around her as he sliced with his blade, but his swings were wild and she danced around him trying to wait until the moment to strike presented itself.

"Aaaarrggghhh" he yelled in frustration, finally he lunged at her trying to hit her with the pommel of his blade to slow her down, he missed but as she flipped past him he managed to reach out with his hand and caused her to land on her back instead of her feet.

She landed with a thud, the fall knocking the wind out of her and he grinned and came at her again. She turned on her side and scrambled back to her feet only to find that he had already begun a swing with the flat of his blade aimed at her midsection. She had to jump back once again and barely missed being cut in half.

He was strong and determined, a lethal combination. She silently cursed again as she considered her next move. She held her daggers in front of her as she moved forward, feigning right at the last moment and managed to get a hit to his side, unfortunately it didn't penetrate his armor.

He sneered at her then and came at her faster than she thought possible, bringing the sword above his head and slicing downward. She moved quickly and his sword hit the ground with a loud thud. She vaguely heard the crowd cheering them on, they were enjoying the show she thought wryly.

The big warrior was beginning to tire she knew, but so was she. She threw a confusion hex at him and knew it landed when his eyes glazed over. It didn't last long but it did give her the opportunity to land a slice with her blades to his back, this time she cut through the armor at its weak point.

Unfortunately the hit also brought him back to his senses and he used his blade to swipe low at her legs, he connected with her calf. The blade bounced off her without cutting but the damage from such a powerful hit meant that her left leg would be weak and the pain in her leg told her that it would bruise.

Again they circled one another crouched in fighting stances. She decided to goad him on yet again "what's the matter big boy, fighting a girl turning out to be more difficult for you than you thought it would be?"

But the man merely answered back "too bad that we have to fight here in front of an audience, if we were alone I would find much more interesting things to do with you." His smile was wicked and Hawke shivered involuntarily as he said this.

Time to end this she thought, the longer it goes on the more chances he has of landing a blow with the sword. Her lips pursed into a thin line as she continued to jump out of the way of his swings, all the while searching for a weakness in his defenses.

At one point she got just a little too close to the damned blade and he made contact with her right arm, her main sword arm. The blade sliced a gash deep into the flesh as she held back the urge to cry out.

"What's the matter girle, fight getting a bit too much for you? Come over here and we'll end it quickly" he goaded her. It was then that she noticed that he tended to bring his sword up high as he was aiming for a swing. If she could step in close to him while he had his sword raised she could strike at him from close range and he would not be able to strike back.

The next time he raised his arms that's exactly what she did, instead of moving out of range she moved in close, so close that she could feel his hot breath on her. He grinned while looking down at her but before he could change his hold on the blade she took her dagger and drove it under his armor at the point where the chestplate ended and pushed it deep. The smile on his face changed to shock as he realized what was happening.

She twisted the blade, but had to back away quickly. He let go of his blade with one hand and his fist connected with her face as she fell backward, but the damage had been done. His eyes grew wide as he clutched his stomach and when his hand came away they both noted it was covered in blood.

It was only then that Hawke knew she could win the battle and her confidence grew. The big warrior started moving slower as the loss of blood affected him and it was only a matter of time before Hawke could slip in behind him and once again her dagger found its way into a weak spot in his armor, this time at his shoulder in between his chest plate and pauldrons.

The big man still wouldn't fall though and Hawke knew she couldn't last much longer either. Her whole body hurt and she was panting and she noted that she was no longer sweating as much as before, which was itself a bad sign. If she didn't take him down soon she would fall as well if nothing else, from heat stroke.

The man seemed to draw himself up then, aiming for one last giant strike in a swooping arch, he missed, barely, and fell to the ground panting. Neither of them had much left in them. Hawke advanced coming up behind him and with the last of her strength drew her blade against his neck, slicing it open.

He breathed his last then and slumped over. Hawke couldn't enjoy the victory though as she felt the last of her strength leave as well and she staggered and fell to her knees, her head hanging low on her chest as she tried to focus on breathing.

At last it was over and she had won. It was the last conscious thought she had before slipping into oblivion.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – Old Acquaintances

As soon as Hawke had killed her opponent the magisters jumped to their feet cheering. Danarius' entertainment had been highly successful and he had impressed his guests, they all enjoyed the adrenalin rush that came with watching the slaves beat each other senseless.

Fenris looked over the faces of the magisters and their guests, he was disgusted. It appalled him to think that the party to follow in Danarius' private quarters would last long into the night. They were far too excited by the days events to let it end now. Fenris felt a shiver run down his spine as he thought of the depravity that would take place later. He hoped and prayed that he would not have to witness it, but he knew better.

Several magisters came forward to congratulate Danarius on his acquisition of the new slave while others were trying to convince him to sell her. The one named Lacivius was particularly insistent. "Danarius" he said "you already have Fenris here as your personal guard, surely you can let this slave go."

"Ah, sadly I cannot Lacivius, she will be an excellent addition to my guard and I think that her skills will complement those of my little wolf here, don't you agree?"

"See reason Danarius, I will pay you extra for the time and effort you spent on her." Danarius appeared to consider his offer, little did the man know that having a slave that other magisters would covet made her worth more to him than any amount of gold he could offer.

"I would be happy to meet any terms you require" he added emphatically. "While I am honored by your offer, I simply cannot part with her, I have big plans for this particular slave." Said Danarius. Lacivius responded by saying "I do wish you would consider my offer, but if you should change your mind I would appreciate the opportunity to bid on her first."

"I shall keep that in mind my friend." Danarius said with a chuckle. Fenris knew that he was enjoying all the attention from the other magisters, at least he would be in a good mood for a while.

Fenris had been watching the days events closely, he had conflicted feelings about how things had unfolded. On the one hand, he was glad that Hawke had survived and would now become one of Danarius' guards. On the other hand he didn't understand his feelings, why was it that he even cared whether or not this particular slave lived or died. It was confusing.

She had fought well and he had been proud of the fact that she remembered much from their training together. He was becoming anxious now because his master had not made any mention of checking to see if she was alive or dead.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Danarius turned to Fenris and said casually, "have someone take our little barbarian back to her quarters and see that the healer visits her this evening." Fenris bowed his head and walked out onto the field, he knew the master would not let him leave his side to take Hawke back to her quarters, but at least he could find someone he trusted to do the task.

He took long strides until he reached her, she was still unconscious on the ground and he kneeled down to check her pulse, it was strong. Fenris breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that she had just passed out from exhaustion and other than the cut on her arm and some bruising, she would survive.

As he looked at her face, once again he felt conflicted. She was a mage, Danarius had said it when she was first purchased and he had seen her using magic during the battles, but, she was a slave just as he was. Fenris reached out his arms to pick her up off the field as gently as he could.

He brought her toward the holding cells of the slaves when he noticed Rinval walking toward him. "I will take her back to her cell." Fenris looked at the man, he was a capable guard captain, but he was unsure if the man would be able to carry her all the way back to the estate. Truth be told, he also didn't want to give up his hold on her, the thought was foreign to him, but he decided not to dwell on it for the moment.

He had no choice though, the master's instructions had been clear. He would be very unhappy with his guard if he left him alone with the other magisters for more than a few minutes.

"Go and watch over the master, I will take her to the estate and return as quickly as I can." Fenris turned away walking quickly back to his masters side. He was disappointed not to be the one to return Hawke to her quarters, but as he observed the look on Hadrianna's face, it almost made it worthwhile.

She looked as though she had just swallowed something sour, her face was puckered in thought and she was frowning deeply. He wondered what had put her in such a mood, it was rare that he was able to witness such a look on her.

Fenris turned to see where she had been looking, she was watching as Rinval and another guard carried the now unconscious Hawke back to the estate. He realized that the look of distaste had been directed toward Hawke. It seemed that she had already made an enemy of the masters apprentice.

This was not good news for Hawke he knew. While she enjoyed tormenting Fenris, she always stopped just short of damaging him permanently. If the look on her face was any sort of indication, she could be very dangerous to Hawke in the days to come.

Fenris was deep in thought, why did he even care. Was she any different than any other slave? She was female, and was quite pleasant to look at, but she was a mage and human as well. Why did he feel differently towards this newcomer? He had never felt protective of any of the other house slaves, did she possess something in her that the other slaves did not?

He could not understand these feelings, in the past he had felt pity toward some of the other slaves. He felt sorry for the ones who were used to fuel the blood rituals, he also pitied the young ones who would know nothing but servitude during their lives, but this feeling he had for the barbarian felt … different. He was familiar with feelings such as anger and hatred, but this was something new entirely.

He decided that he would have to speak to Hawke in the future, explore these strange feelings that the woman seemed to stir in him. There had to be a reason, he just didn't know yet what it was.

Fenris' thoughts returned to the present, he looked at his master who was still chatting with other magisters, a large smile on his face. Truly he was enjoying the attention; he was the man of the hour. He chanced another glance toward Hadrianna, she was still scowling and if the look on her face was any indication, it would mean she would take out her frustrations on the household slaves later, namely him if the opportunity presented itself.

Fenris thought back to the torment he had endured by her hand. The woman was truly evil he thought. She enjoyed using her mage powers against the slaves and more than anything else, she enjoyed inflicting pain on them. Fenris was often the focus of her anger.

She had to hide her tortures from the master, if he found out what she did with the slaves he would be angry, perhaps he would even punish her. While the thought was pleasing, he doubted it would ever happen. The master himself found pleasure in torturing his slaves and she had learned from him. The only reason he would be angry would be because he had not participated in the torture himself.

She had found him in the night, sitting guard outside Hawke's cell. He had tried to get her to leave him alone, telling her that the master would be displeased if he found out Fenris had abandoned his duties, but she had been determined.

Without realizing it, Fenris himself frowned as he remembered what had happened. She had ignited his markings when he tried to refuse and he ended up on the floor, shaking from the pain she had inflicted. She insisted that she needed to be "serviced." He had no choice in the matter but to go along with her, he was a slave and could not refuse.

It was always easier to give in to her wishes, as her masters trusted apprentice it was a simple matter for her to arrange for his meals to be withheld for days or for him to be given extra guard duty until Fenris thought that he was going to fall over from exhaustion and lack of food. She was a master manipulator, just like Danarius.

He shivered involuntarily as thoughts of the last two nights invaded his mind, no matter how hard he tried he could not keep the mental images out.

She had brought him up to her private quarters and proceeded to force him to undress her and then to bathe her. After that he was forced pleasure her long into the night. She never allowed him to enter her, it was beneath her to actually have sex with a slave, especially if that slave was an elf, but not beneath her to be pleasured by one. He had hated every minute of it.

The woman had no idea how disgusted by her he was, he hated everything about her, the way she looked at him with lust, the way she felt, the sounds that she made, it made his stomach turn just thinking about it and a wave of nausea threatened to overtake him right then and there.

He shook his head, and forced himself to focus on his surroundings once again. His hands balled into fists involuntarily at his sides and he dug the fingers of his gloves into his palms. Thinking of time spent with Hadrianna was just too disturbing.

Fenris focused on his master and the crowds that surrounded him as he searched for any potential threats among them. He blatantly ignored Hadrianna, he would not allow his thoughts to go down that path again.

Rinval had returned to the estate and placed Hawke back into her cell, he ordered the guard who had accompanied him to find the healer immediately and to have him check on Hawke's wounds while he too returned to the arena.

Hawke was still unconscious, her mind had once again wandered into the fade. She looked around, trying to get some sense of her surroundings when she noticed the path in front of her. There was really nowhere else to go but forward.

As she came around a bend in the path, she was face to face with the strange woman with white hair once again. "Ah, we meet once again." she said and smiled. It was not a warm or even welcoming smile and Hawke bit back the words that were sitting on the tip of her tongue.

She still did not know who or more importantly, what the woman was. The only thing she did know was that she was much more than she appeared to be and had not yet decided if she was a demon, or something else entirely.

"Strange isn't it how we keep meeting here in the fade" Hawke said with a smirk. "Not so strange really, I don't think we had time to finish what we started the last time we talked." The woman said, Hawke struggled to remember her name as she looked into those strange golden eyes and then she remembered.

"My, my" Flemeth said "my brain must be getting addled in my old age, I can hardly remember what it was we were up to, can you?" For some reason Hawke felt that the woman could remember everything perfectly, but for some reason she was testing her.

"You had me choose which path to walk on and then I touched raw lyrium and woke up"

"Ah, yes we were discussing the song of lyrium, I remember now." As she said this, suddenly they were back in the circle of stones once again. As she looked at the stones they glowed faintly blue, a sure sign that they were infused with lyrium.

"Can you hear it now, the song the stone sings?" Flemeth asked. Hawke concentrated, trying to hear it, and once again she began to hear a dull throbbing sort of sound. As she focused on the sound, it changed, it began to sound like music, just as Flemeth said.

"You hear it don't you?" "yes" replied Hawke. Flemeth smiled again, this time the smile appeared genuine. "Few mortals can hear it and fewer still can harness the power it provides."

"Power?" said Hawke. "Indeed, a mage can learn to harness that power, making their spells more powerful or allow them to cast spells that might otherwise be beyond their reach."

Hawke thought about this for a time, and then a strange thought occurred to her. "Do you mean to say that if I can hear the lyrium, I can shape the song to my will."

"Why child, that is exactly what I mean. I must say that I am impressed that you figured it out so quickly. Most of your kind is so stuck in the teachings of the circle and the chantry that the thought never occurs to them."

Hawke couldn't help but smile to herself. Her father had taught her, not the circle Flemeth mentioned, and his methods would have been considered unorthodox in their eyes. His teachings had allowed her to become comfortable with her magic and she did not fear the power it brought, however, she also understood that with power came responsibility. She would never allow herself to use blood magic or to use her ability to rule over others. Her thoughts of her father now made her realize the wisdom of his teachings.

"Let us finish what we started then, go and touch the lyrium and use your will to make the song into whatever you wish."

Hawke did as she was told and walked over to one of the stones, she stopped in front of it and listened closely. At first she just heard a thrumming in her ears, if she did not know better she could have mistaken it for her own heartbeat. As she concentrated longer, she could hear the faint music in it.

When she felt ready she reached out and touched her hand to the stone and this time she was ready for it. At first the contact with the lyrium burned and she had to fight to resist the urge to pull her hand away. As she stood there she focused her will and imagined that the sound had changed, had become something like one of the lullabies her parents would sing to her as a child to help her sleep.

Hawke closed her eyes and remembered. Little by little the sound changed, she remembered her mother singing the song to her clearly in her mind and soon the lyrium was mimicking the sound. But it was so much more than that. If she had to explain it to someone else, she knew she would not be able to find the words.

It was music, but it wasn't, it was as if the lyrium was putting her feelings into sound. Even she was having a hard time understanding what was happening. She opened her eyes and pulled her hand away and looked at Flemeth.

"Interesting" she said, "it sounded like an old Ferelden lullaby." Hawke smiled "yes, it was one that my parents used to sing me to sleep."

"The music can be anything you want it to be, it can also be shaped into a weapon and used against your enemies." Hawke wasn't sure that she would be able to use it in that way. She wasn't even sure she would ever be able to touch the lyrium outside of the Fade, here she could do it because she knew that her body was safely elsewhere. She did not voice any of this to Flemeth, however, she did not want to anger her.

There was one thing that was bothering her though, and she decided to ask. "Why are you teaching me these things?"

"Hmm, I have been asking myself the very same question and yet still I have not come up with an answer. Let's just say that I have become sentimental in my old age." Hawke's eyebrow went up, the answer only left her with more questions.

Flemeth laughed then, it was a deep throaty laugh and her whole body shook. "I do not know if we will meet again and so I have one last piece of advice." She paused and thought for a while before she continued. "The winds of change will soon sweep across the land, many fear change, you my dear girl must not, you must embrace it, do not hesitate otherwise you will know regret."

Hawke did not understand the meaning behind Flemeth's words, the woman was as cryptic as the last time she met her. She frowned while she considered what she said. She turned to face Flemeth once again, another question on her lips, but when she looked for her she was gone. She was alone in the Fade.


	13. Chapter 13

I have to apologize for taking so long to get another chapter out, my life has been crazy lately and I have to fight to get computer time! As always Bioware owns all characters, etc. Hope you enjoy and feel free to review if you wish

~OoOoOoOo~

Chapter 13

Hawke's mind went blank after that, she would not wake up for another two days. She did not know it, but she would be thankful that she was not forced to attend the festivities in Danarius' home.

Fenris, however, was not so lucky. As the masters head bodyguard it was his place to remain by his side to ensure that another magister did not take advantage of the chaos and make an attempt on his life.

The master had directed his guests back to the mansion where the party was to continue. The house slaves had been working furiously to get everything in order. The marble floors were shined to a high polish; slaves were running everywhere making sure that everything was perfect for the guests.

The dining room table was set with the most decadent and expensive foods and the best crystal dishes had been brought out for the occasion which also were shined to perfection. Candles were lit everywhere, all of them in the colors of the master, purple, white and gold. The purple candles were the most expensive to acquire. The candles had to be specially made and had the essence of nightshade mixed into them to get the deep purple color. It also gave them an exotic scent that now filled the mansion. Danarius had spared no expense on this party.

There was caviar from the northernmost reaches of Thedas, a large roasted wild boar was the centerpiece of the table, the animal had been roasted with an apple in its mouth. There were rare fruits from Antiva of all kinds and in every color imaginable. Expensive Orlesian cheeses were found in abundance along with exotic smoked meats.

In the next room the deserts were spread around the room on smaller tables that were arranged by type. There was a table whose main focus was a four foot chocolate fountain surrounded by fruits and small bites of cake to dip in the rich chocolate. Another table was piled high with sugared sweets of all kinds. And everywhere there was liquor, Orlesian and Tevinter wines, rum from Rivain, flavored brandy from Antiva, and even the best ales from Ferelden. There was even a fairly large stock of the most rare of beverages, a liquor fermented from the blood of wyverns that was so difficult to make that even the slightest of mistake during the fermentation can make the end product deadly when drunk.

Fenris surveyed the rooms and knew that his master had planned for this party to last long into the night. As he looked around he noticed that he did not recognize many of the slaves who were serving the guests. There were many present that he guessed must have been borrowed from other estates, or perhaps they were brought in from other parts of the mansion, gardeners and the like had all been recruited to help with the event.

Fenris took a spot in the back of the room trying to blend into the shadows; it was not an easy task as the room was lit so brightly. The guests began arriving slowly making their way from the arena and quickly began gorging themselves on food and drink.

The master was busy flitting among them all, solidifying his place among the elite of Minrathus, he was enjoying himself immensely. As the evening wore on endlessly in Fenris' mind,

the entertainment arrived. Pleasure slaves of all races arrived, both men and women dressed in silks to rival those of the magisters themselves. Though they wore considerably less clothing. Their faces were painted in the most ridiculous manner, their features exaggerated almost beyond recognition.

Fenris shifted position while keeping his eyes on the master. The party, he knew, was soon going to turn into a night of debauchery. The pleasure slaves were flaunting their wares and showing their availability and some of the magisters were wandering away into private rooms with the slaves of their choice. The master himself had his eye on several pleasure slaves that were hovering nearby and he inclined his head in Fenris' direction indicating that he intended to take them into his private chambers.

Fenris knew that he would be required to continue to watch over the master. He ushered the slaves that Danarius indicated into a room which had been specially prepared. It was an anti-chamber just off his main quarters which had pillows and soft pallets spread around the room. Danarius would not allow anyone into his own private quarters and so had this room readied for use.

As the evening wore on, some of the guests began leaving the party and calling for their carriages to be brought for their trip home. Not all of the guests would be staying for the more private events. Only the masters favorites were invited to stay the night and possibly even longer.

As the numbers of party goers began to dwindle, Danarius arrived with several women hanging onto him. They were probably hoping to get into his good graces by offering themselves to him. Little good that would do though, the master used people for whatever benefit he could get out of them and then cast them aside. If they had spent any amount of time around him they would already know that.

Fenris watched as several other high ranking magisters also made their way into the private chamber, each of them with several pleasure slaves at their sides, both men and women. He noted that Hadrianna was still in the main rooms and was not making a move to join the master. As he glanced her way she caught him looking at her and he thought he saw resentment in her eyes.

Her mouth was set into a grim line and she was obviously displeased that she would not be allowed to enter. She was not of high enough rank to be given entry into the pleasure rooms. This thought made Fenris smile just a tiny bit, he would not have to endure that. Seeing her that way was an image he could definitely do without. Well at least there was some small benefit that could be found in this night.

As the magisters began to disrobe Fenris once again took up a position in the back of the room, trying hard not to be noticed. It was not easy to block out the sights and sounds of the spectacle that was in front of him, but he put on a blank face and focused his mind on remaining neutral. The magisters would not bother him he knew, he was only there for protection should his master need him.

Time passed slowly it seemed, and Fenris found himself tiring and finding it hard to remain awake. If he stared at the far wall he could easily block out the sights in front of him, but the noise was another matter entirely. His large elven ears were not just decoration, his hearing was much keener than that of humans and the sound seemed to amplify in the small space.

In his boredom he had almost fallen asleep with his eyes open when a female magister sauntered up to him. She was completely naked and obviously drunk, stumbling her way across the room. She leaned into him, her breath reeking of the alcohol she had drunk and said "why do you not join the rest of us, it would be much more interesting than just standing there and watching."

Fenris thought before responding, he did not wish to offend the mage, and therefore his master, but neither did he have any desire to join them. As he looked upon the mage in front of him, he had to keep his face carefully neutral, she was an older woman and like most of the magisters in this place, it was obvious that this woman never had to do any kind of physical work in her life. Her ample flesh hung loosely about her body and she was not the least bit appealing to him.

He knew that she had never missed a meal or been starved half to death. His resentment nearly took over him and he had to take a moment before he could compose himself enough to respond. "I am to watch over my master to ensure that he is safe, that is my function here." He was careful to not allow any emotion into his voice.

"Oh come now, a tall handsome elf such as yourself, if I were your master you would surely be amongst the pleasure slaves, seems such a waste to have you as a bodyguard only." She said this quietly, almost in a whisper so that others would not overhear. "My master is Danarius" he said in quiet voice in return. He dared not even look at the mage lest the master misconstrue what was transpiring between them. She looked him in the eye and stroked his cheek as she said "tis a waste indeed." As she sighed. Thankfully she lost interest in him and wandered back over to the soft silks on the ground to join a new group of magisters.

Fenris drew a deep breath and relaxed slightly. He decided to take up a new position in the room that was more in shadow so that he could avoid anyone approaching him again. He chanced a look at his master, but if he had seen what had just transpired, he did not show it. He was currently being serviced by his favorite slave and the look on his face showed that he was focused on the moment only.

Fenris said a silent prayer of thanks to the maker or whatever deity deemed him worthy to listen to. The night wore on slowly but eventually all of the guests fell into slumber after having spent themselves. Fenris was relieved; it looked like there would be no blood sacrifices this night. That meant that there would be no bodies for him to clean up in the morning. He decided that he could chance a few hours of sleep and sat down with his back against the wall and closed his eyes. He figured that the master would sleep late into the morning. 

It felt like only a few moments but he managed to rest at least a little. He heard the sound of the door opening and he became alert quickly. It was only the servants though. A few of the house slaves had arrived to clean up the mess that had been made, the master was not be disturbed though and the slaves were all elves who moved quietly on bare feet so that they would not awaken anyone.

He stood up again, to assume his position as guard as two other heavily armed guards entered the room. They were a part of the masters elite guard and indicated that he could return to his quarters for a time while they assumed the job of watching the master and his guests.

Fenris wanted to take advantage of the respite and made his way out of the room. He planned to visit the slaves' galley and get some food, it had been a full day since he had eaten. As he quietly made his way through the mansion he was spotted by Hadrianna. She called out to him before he could make his way to the slave quarters, he stiffened as she called out his name.

"Fenris!" she called out in a commanding voice, he had no choice but to stop where he was. He turned slowly toward her, his head bowed and silently prayed that she would leave him alone. "So you were with the master while he and the others pleasured themselves, were you a participant in the activities or were you simply a silent observer?" She said this as a smile crept across her face, did the woman honestly believe that he had wanted to join in? The thought disgusted him.

"As you well know it is my responsibility to ensure to the masters safety at all times when he feels it necessary." He thought that his answer was neutral and he kept his voice devoid of emotion while he spoke it. "Yes, I do know this, but tell me Fenris, did you see anything you liked in there? Perhaps you would like to join in if the master requested it?"

"The master did not request it so your question is irrelevant." He replied coolly. Hadrianna sighed, this was not the response she was looking for. "Yes but tell me, how difficult is it for you to stand there and distance yourself from the activities that are taking place, perhaps you wish that you would be invited to participate? Do you not secretly desire for it?" He was appalled and he could not hide his emotion this time. "I have no wish to participate in the _activities_ you speak of. I am the masters bodyguard!"

Hadrianna smiled outwardly then as she reached up to stroke Fenris' cheek. "Yes you are, but the master won't live forever and then I will be the master of the house and it will be my choice whom to take into the private quarters. When that time comes do you not desire to service your master?" Her voice had turned seductive as she said this "I can think of many uses for you once I rule this household."

Fenris held very still while she said this, he did not want to anger her but, he also did not want to encourage her either. "I have been trained as a bodyguard, and that is what I am best at."

"But" said Hadrianna, "I know that you have many other skills then don't I, once I am made master you will be able to give me pleasure openly, without having to hide it, there will be no need for you to conceal your desire for me."

"You know full well that I am Danarius' property, not yours, and I do not ask for your personal attention." Hadrianna grew angry at that and her voice and mannerisms changed suddenly. "Some day I WILL be master of this household and your life will be mine to do with what I will, it is best you remember that Fenris. I can make your days filled with either pleasure or pain, consider that."

And with that she turned sharply and marched out of the room. Fenris knew that he had handled it badly, he hoped that Danarius would continue to reign over the household for a long time to come because if that witch ever took over… He shuddered as he thought of the things she might do to him, and the things she would require him to do for her.

If it came down to that he would have to have a plan to deal with it. He could endure Danarius' tortures, at least mostly, but Hadrianna was so much crueler than he was. She had learned from her master well. His life would be a living hell if she ever came to power and so he decided then and there that he would be even more vigilant when protecting his master to ensure that this never came to pass.

His thoughts were conflicted as he made his way into the slave quarters. He hated both Hadrianna and Danarius both. He could see no solution to the problem though, as he had long ago given up any hope of becoming free from his master. The idea was so alien to him that he couldn't even imagine a life other than slavery. He had no memory of being anything other than the masters bodyguard.

He got his food and went to Rinval's office to turn in his weapon, another guard followed him to his cell and locked him in. He ate quickly, he was hungry after all and settled in for whatever amount of sleep the master or the other guards would allow him.

His thoughts wandered and he tried once again to remember anything from his past beyond being a slave. As always he could find nothing. He considered the new slave that was to become another bodyguard and wondered what her life had been like before coming to the estate. As hard as he tried he could not imagine it. She had apparently come from Ferelden and had been free before her arrival. Did they not have slaves in Ferelden? He thought he remembered hearing rumors that the barbarians felt differently about slavery.

He wondered about the place she came from, could it really be that different than Tevinter? He also remembered hearing something about them living with dogs. A disgusting thought, though if they truly did not keep slaves. He laid back on his pallet as his thoughts swirled and he had to force them to be quiet, he needed to take advantage of the rest he had been given.


	14. Chapter 14

I want to thank all of you who are following this story and for the great review I got recently, it is so exciting to think that other people are enjoying my story! You have no idea how much it helps to motivate me to sit down at the computer, anyway back to the story. Oh and Bioware owns all, as usual.

~OoOoOoOoOo~

Chapter 14 - Transformations

Fenris woke up some time later, he did not know how long he slept. Apparently the master was calling for him and he had to hurry and get his weapon and armor on before making his way to the masters' quarters. The slave who had come to retrieve him had a worried look on his face, this did not bode well. He had assumed that the master had enjoyed the festivities the night before and would not need him for some time.

He practically ran to Danarius' private quarters. The master was sitting at his desk looking over some documents lying there. "Fenris, it's about time you got here, you know better than to keep me waiting." Fenris made no comment as he walked quickly to the masters side, head bowed as usual, obediently awaiting any orders or perhaps punishment that the master had in mind.

His masters face looked grim and Fenris could not imagine what had upset him so. "We have a problem on our hands" he said as he looked at Fenris. "It seems that one of the lower ranking magisters, Albus, is making accusations about me behind my back." Fenris remained quiet, he knew that the master was formulating some kind of retaliation for this magister, but did not yet know his part in it. "I have been expecting some repercussions regarding my guest list, but I did not expect it to come so soon, we will have to deal with this." Fenris merely bowed his head lower, indicating without words that he would be up to any orders the master gave him.

"But enough of this for now, let us not ruin the day with these distressing thoughts. We will deal with it in due time. For now, prepare a bath and I require a massage afterward, bring in Seran, he has the strongest hands." Fenris acknowledged his orders with "yes master."

"That is, unless you would like to see to your masters comfort yourself?" he said with a sneer and that sick smile on his face as he reached out to stroke him where the skin was exposed on his forearm. He had made it clear to Fenris on many occasions that he wished him to be more than just a bodyguard. The thought made Fenris' skin crawl, while he was torn between wishing to please his master, the thought repulsed him and it was nearly impossible for him to hide his revulsion. He remained silent and held his breath.

"I see that you are not yet ready, it is a pity, but someday my little wolf, I will run out of patience." Fenris dared not move. "Enough." He said gruffly, "see to my needs slave!" Fenris hurried to get his bath ready. "And see to it that my guests are well cared for, I will rejoin them later."

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, to the great relief of all the slaves. There were no blood rituals and no slave was killed. The mansion had been in a state of high anxiety, as if waiting for the hammer to drop, the tension in the air was so intense that everyone had been jumping at the slightest noise or provocation.

All the slaves seemed to breathe a great sigh of relief at once as the last of the masters guests left without incident. The only thing left was to finish cleaning up the mess that was made and slowly the household returned to some semblance of normalcy. Late that night Fenris was eventually instructed to go look in on the newest slave to see how she had fared after the fight.

He made his way down to the slave quarters wearily. He allowed himself to relax for the first time in several days. The cook must have noticed his haggard appearance and had given him a larger portion of food. He looked at her with confusion, but did not comment as she merely gave him a small smile before she turned her back on him. He went to Hawke's cell to check on her, there was a small notch cut into the door so that he could look in on her without having to open the door. She seemed to be resting, he stood there for a time, watching her chest rise and fall and decided that she must be still asleep as there was a plate of untouched food on the floor. He settled himself on the floor and ate his dinner. After a time he felt himself drifting into sleep and he let himself rest.

He was awakened in the morning by one of the house slaves, he did not know her name. "The master has called for you" is all she said. He made his way to Danarius' quarters quickly and awaited orders. "We will be taking the new slave into town and having some armor made for her, we cannot have her guarding me in rags. She must have something that befits a master of my status." As he spoke to Fenris, two of the house slaves were busy fastening him into his robes, and seeing to his dressing for the day. "Take her to Hadrianna and have her bathe the girl and make her presentable for a trip to the city" he said.

Fenris did as instructed and went first to Rinval's office to get the key to her cell, explaining to him what was required. Hawke did not stir as the door opened, but he noted that the food that was there the night before was gone. She must have awakened at some time and ate. The cell was small and he couldn't help but notice that in her sleep she had a look of serenity about her. He studied her features for a moment in the dim light.

She did not have the look of most Tevinters, they tended have darker skin tones and most had blondish hair. Hers was black, but he noted that in the sunlight there were hints of deep burgundy in it; the color of Tevinter wine. The magisters themselves were generally pale because they travelled by carriage and stayed out of the suns damaging rays, but the native peoples and the slaves in particular were tanned from constant exposure. The wind and dry climate making their skin tough as leather. Her skin was pale as that of any magister and as he looked he noted that it was nearly flawless. Her cheeks had a natural pink tinge to them. He wondered idly if the rest of her skin would look like that. Her hands were not rough like his, though he thought that she must have calluses and cuts from wielding her blades, he could see none. She was lying on her side on the cot, and he noted that her features were not as pronounced as the magisters he had seen. Her nose was small, even for a human and her face was rounder than that of elves. He noted these differences and decided that it must be a trait of Fereldens' in general. Did all of her people look like that? He wondered.

While her features were indeed different, he found them pleasing to look at. He was still studying her quietly when she stirred in her sleep and he suddenly found her staring at him with those ocean blue eyes. He did not say anything for a time and just stood there staring, for a moment he had forgotten why he had come.

She stared back and smiled at him as she rose to a sitting position on the cot. "Well, did you come here for a reason?" Fenris did not immediately respond so she said "Do I have something on my face? The way your looking at me you would think that I grew another nose or a mustache or something." She said with a slight chuckle in her voice.

He mentally shook himself to clear his head, "the master wishes for you to get cleaned up so that you may attend him while he goes into town." Fenris was irritated at himself, but more at her for making him act so strangely, he felt nervous when he was around her. It confused him as he had never felt this way before. He felt that he was above most of the other slaves and never once found himself so flustered in their presence. This woman was strange and his feelings were alien to him. He wondered if it was because she was a new slave from some strange foreign land, or if it was something else entirely.

"To the bathing room then?" she asked. "Follow me" was all he would say. He decided that it was best not to speak too much to the newcomer, as he didn't understand why he was acting this way. He turned and walked from the cell and willed himself to focus on his task. He walked quickly and with purpose and Hawke found herself hurrying to keep up with him. "Where are we going?" she asked.

He did not answer and just kept on walking, eventually he led her into the mansion itself and she found herself outside a large set of double doors with intricate carvings in them. She did not recognize it and thought that she had never been to this room before. She looked at him questioningly, but he merely knocked and the door and stood with his head down.

A female elf answered the door, she was small and petite and was dressed better than most of the slaves she had seen down below. Her hair was done up in intricate braids and her dress was not the coarse material that the others seemed to wear. She beckoned them into the room without speaking and walked through another doorway into a lavish bathing room.

This was nothing like the rooms in the slave quarters. There was a large claw footed tub in the center of the room made out of some sort of hammered metal. There was also a large wardrobe and a small table with intricate carvings on it and several drawers. On it sat a three sided mirror with a gilded frame and a small stool sat in front of it. The room obviously did not belong to a slave as there were several large portraits on the wall and she noted a dressing screen in one corner that seemed to be draped in silk. Hawke stood wide eyed taking in her surroundings when suddenly the masters apprentice breezed in with a smile on her face.

There were several other female slaves in the room, all of them dressed in similar clothing to the one who answered the door. The human woman spoke to her then. "Strip" she said. Hawke wasn't sure she understood the order and turned to look at her. It was Hadrianna she noted, she remembered now that this woman is the masters apprentice. She stood there not comprehending what was required of her and before she could say anything the woman stomped over to her and slapped her hard across the face. Hawke's face stung where she had been slapped and she brought her hand up to her face.

"The master may put up with your insolent attitude, but I will not." She said. "Now strip and get into the tub!" Hawke turned to Fenris, looking for some sort of confirmation of what she was to do but he would not look at her. He was feeling ashamed that he had not prepared the woman better for what was to come, he had been too lost in his own thoughts. He now regretted not explaining what was expected of her.

Hawke hesitated and then took a step toward the tub in the center of the room. Hadrianna had no patience however and raised her arms in an incantation and let loose with a bolt of energy. Hawke found herself enveloped in an aura of blinding pain and soon was on the floor panting and struggling for breath. She looked up at the woman who only smiled broadly and said "do I need to repeat myself again?"

"No" was all Hawke could say in barely a whisper. The woman smiled at her again before she let loose another bolt of energy at her. "No what?" she said in a sickly sweet voice. Fenris struggled to maintain his composure and found that his hands had balled into fists at his side. There was nothing he could do, the woman had to learn her place in the household and although he regretting not preparing her, she would need to learn that when the masters asked something of her she had to comply. "No Master?" she said questioningly. Another bolt shook her body and she could not keep from screaming out in pain. It burned and felt as if her skin was on fire and she was fighting for air, it was as if she was drowning in fire.

"Do I look like the master to you, you stupid slave?" she asked as she hit her again with a flash of energy from her fingertips. She turned to one of the female slaves then and said, "would you please explain to this thick headed barbarian how to properly address the masters apprentice?"

She turned to the woman on the floor and with a look of pity and said quietly "This is _Mistress_ Hadrianna, and you will address her with the same respect that you show the master." She stressed the Mistress part and Hawke understood. Hadrianna merely glared at her and motioned her to the tub of water. Hawke got up of the floor and walked to the tub, she dared not hesitate and while she did not want to undress in front of Fenris, it seemed she had no choice. She made sure that her back was to him as she removed first her pants and then her tunic. She had no underclothes, slaves were not given any and she quickly stepped into the tub using her arms to cover her upper body.

Hadrianna walked over and daintily put her hand in the water. She turned to Fenris and said "the water is too cold, bring the buckets from the fire so that she doesn't catch a chill." The water was already unpleasantly hot, so much so that it was turning her skin to an angry red, but she refused to complain or speak out. She didn't want to give Hadrianna any reason to punish her again.

Fenris brought over the buckets and poured it in the water, the tub was already steaming and he knew that the water must be hot already, but he was a slave and slaves did what they were told. Hawke closed her eyes tight and fought to keep her composure. Hadrianna turned to the handmaidens then and said "well, what are you waiting for?"

Two of the women hurried forward and grabbed Hawke's arms and began scrubbing with rough sponges. In the hot water they felt like they were made out of wire mesh and Hawke's skin was beginning to bruise under their hands. One of the women looked at Hawke and she could see the sorrow in her eyes, she knew that they were being forced to do this at the hands of their mistress. "Harder!" Hadrianna screamed at them, "the poor dear hasn't had a proper bath in months and we must be sure to get all the dirt off of her, wouldn't want her making a bad impression on the master now would we?"

Hawke ground her teeth together to keep from crying out. They made her stand up in the tub and eventually she couldn't help but release a strangled cry of pain. It felt like they were scraping her skin from her body and without realizing it tears were flowing freely down her face. Hadrianna called to one of the girls, "Belina" she said "we need more bath salts, she must smell sweet for the master." The smile never left her face as she said this.

Hawke stood there, tears streaming down her face, and she began sobbing quietly. She couldn't help herself.

At first Fenris had watched Hawke as she had undressed, studying her features discreetly from under his white hair. He noted that she did not appear to be undernourished like so many of the others in the household and that her female curves were much more pronounced. He could not bear to watch this however and shut his eyes tight. The sound of her whimpering was having the strangest effect on him. He was fighting the urge to jump at Hadrianna and wring her neck for enjoying the pain she was causing the new slave. If this went on for much longer he did not know if he would be able to restrain himself.

Fenris had his eyes shut tight, his hands balled into fists. He was trembling with the amount of energy it took to keep from doing something foolish, something that would get him or Hawke or both of them killed. He brought his head up and opened his mouth to speak, he had to put a stop to this, Hadrianna had gone too far and the master would not be pleased. It was at that exact moment when Fenris felt his control slipping when the master himself came breezing into the room, the smile on his face turned into a grimace as he took note of Hawke and the state she was in. Hadrianna turned to her master with a look of shock on her face. She had planned to heal the slave before she presented her to him. He would have been unaware of her handling and Hadrianna was sure that she could make it so that the slave would say nothing.

She was caught and they both knew it. "Master" she breathed, "I'm afraid that your new slave was in worse condition than we thought, she was covered in parasites and bugs. These Fereldens are truly disgusting things. Perhaps you should reconsider Master Lucivious' offer to purchase her."

Danarius looked at his apprentice hard before speaking and when he did his tone was grim. "Hadrianna, you need to remember who is the master and who the apprentice. I gave you a task and you have failed at it, failed miserably I might add. I can't very well take her into town looking like a peeled orange." His voice was quiet, but all in the room knew that he was angry. "But Master" she stared, Danarius did not allow her to speak however, and raised his hand for her to stop. The room was quiet except for Hawke's muffled sobs, everyone including the slaves listened as he spoke again. "Leave us, I will see to the slave and deal with you later."

Hadrianna left the room with her head down. Danarius generally did not stay angry at her for long and the punishment would probably not be that severe. At least that's what she hoped, she was after all his star apprentice and would someday inherit both his wealth and power. The woman was only a slave and she usually was given a free hand when dealing with them. Danarius made up his mind that he would have to talk with her later. He sighed heavily as he walked over to the now shivering Hawke standing in the tub of still warm water.

"My dear, I am sorry for what has happened, allow me to repair the damage she caused." Hawke looked at the master her eyes still wet with tears and merely nodded. He smiled encouragingly as he focused his magic and placed his palms on her arms. The healing spell worked quickly, the damage was not that bad as injuries go, and it was easy to repair. Danarius was not that skilled at healing, he focused more on the blood arts, but he could summon a small healing spell when necessary.

When it was done he offered his hand for her to step out of the tub. Fenris wasn't fooled by his actions. He was playing the part of loving master trying to win her over. It was something he had seen used before. The slave would be beaten or whipped and then the master would come and soothe the pain and the hurt at just the right moment. For the most part it worked, the slave being would then be devoted to the master, and would do anything to ensure his happiness.

Once again Fenris felt bad not telling Hawke what was to come. He had not known that Hadrianna would treat her this way, but he could have at least made her understand that she had to follow her order without hesitation. He had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wondered what it was, regret? Yes, that is what it was, he regretted acting the way he did. But it felt like something more, he frowned to himself as he tried to understand his feelings.

Perhaps he could have spared her some of the pain, but he doubted it. The master may have even planned this so that he could swoop in and save the girl at the last minute. But no, remembering the look on Hadrianna's face he didn't think it was planned. But the master had realized that he had been given a golden opportunity and decided to make the most of it.

He watched as Danarius helped her step out of the water, he motioned to one of the slaves to bring a towel for her to dry. He also noticed that when she was looking down at the floor that his gaze was directed at her chest and when she wrapped the towel around herself his eyes roved up and down her body. He had the look of a hungry animal staring at a caged rabbit. Fenris wouldn't have been surprised if the man started salivating. His frown deepened while he watched them and wondered if the barbarian truly believed the master had saved her from Hadrianna's wrath. Only time would tell.

Danarius turned to the other slaves in the room and directed them to dress her and comb her hair. He watched as she was given clean breeches and a tunic with a form fitting vest to cover the top and accentuate her bust. She was fitted into knee high boots of soft black leather and then presented to Danarius for his appraisal. He nodded his head and said "Yes, this will do" he held out his hand and smiled at her and she shyly placed her hand in his as he walked her to the door. "Well Fenris, I believe we are ready, don't you agree?"

He bowed his head and said "yes master". "I do believe that our little Hawke will be an excellent addition. Come here and stand next to her while I look at you." He said as Fenris complied. "Yes, yes" he said almost to himself "male and female, dark and light, elf and human" he was smiling "what do you think Fenris?" He was not sure how to respond and simply looked at his master. "Its allright little wolf, I am in a generous mood today, tell me, how does our barbarian look?"

"She looks fine" he said a bit hesitantly. "An understatement if I ever heard one, she looks quite lovely I think" and he smiled broadly at his new slave. Hawke for her part felt confused by the events of the day. She knew this man was her master and had gotten the impression that he was a cruel taskmaster, but he had treated her with kindness this day. She remembered back to their first meeting, remembered his cold glare and the malice in his voice as he spoke to her. She remembered the look of excitement on his face as he watched slaves been brutalized in the arena and knew then that he was truly an evil man. Anyone who could be so cruel one minute and then sweet the next had to be either a vicious calculating opportunist, or completely crazy. She knew in her mind that she could trust nothing that came out of this man's mouth and would have to be very careful when in his presence because she had yet to decide which category he fell into.

She decided to play along with his game for the moment, as she didn't want to anger him. If he was crazy who knew what would set him off, she remembered a saying that her father had taught her when she was younger. You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Hearing his soothing voice in her mind she smiled to herself as she pictured his face, his piercing blue eyes and the look of love that came from them. Her smile broadened as she thought of him and it gave her strength, she glanced at Danarius who noticed the look of calm serenity that played on her features before she looked down at the floor as any obedient slave should do.

Danarius was pleased; this day was turning out much better than he could have hoped. He had not anticipated this turn of events, but neither could he pass up the opportunity to play the savior to his new slave.

For her part Hawke knew that if this was a game he was playing with her, it would be best to stay on his good side as he could at least keep her away from Hadrianna as he had proven today. Hawke was after all, no fool. She had survived by her wit and cunning for a long time and intended to survive this as well. She had to bide her time until the opportunity to escape came and ensure that she was ready. She had no intention of remaining a slave and if the master felt that she trusted him, perhaps he would drop his guard around her, even if it was only for a moment. Hawke said a silent prayer to the maker that she would be ready when that moment came.

"Let us be off then" said Danarius with a grin as he turned and headed out of the room and toward the stables. "Be on your guard Fenris, our little Hawke is quite the prize and I wouldn't want anyone to snatch her away from us."


	15. Chapter 15

I know it had been forever and a day since I posted a chapter to this story and I must apologize once again for taking so long. RL has been crazy lately and time has been a luxury I just haven't had. Rest assured that I plan to see it through to the end and thank you readers for your patience! I will make it my goal to post chapters more regularly in the future.

As always bioware owns all and feel free to review and critique!

~~~oOoOo~~~

Chapter 15

As they walked toward the main hall of the mansion, the master waved his hand toward one of the house slaves who promptly came forward with a chain. The chain was snapped onto Hawke's collar. She made a face while this was done, she wasn't expecting to be leashed like an animal. And they called her a barbarian! In Ferelden animals were held in high regard and treated with more respect than these people treated their slaves.

How she wished that she were back in Ferelden, she would rather be fighting with darkspawn! She never thought that anything could be worse than that, but she had found it. She was still mentally berating herself for getting into this situation when she felt herself being gently pulled forward. Apparently this was how her new master intended to ensure that she remained by his side during their visit to town.

She had thought that perhaps she would be able to slip away in the crowds of people while the master was otherwise occupied, but it seemed that he had already anticipated this.

The chain at least was not as large as the one that had been on her during the journey, it was delicately made with small links and it seemed very lightweight. Looks could be deceiving though and she guessed that it must be strong, or infused with some kind of magic to keep her from breaking fee.

Their small party was joined by several other guards when they reached the stables. She was pulled into the awaiting carriage along with Fenris and the master. Danarius put his end of the chain around his wrist and made it into some sort of bracelet, she guessed that's why the chain was made of a lighter material than the one used before. Wouldn't want him to overtire himself hanging onto a large chain to control his slave.

She sat back on the seat across from master and Fenris as she gazed out the small window as the carriage took off. The journey was not long and soon they arrived at what appeared to be the marketplace. Hawke couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, and the sheer number of people.

She didn't think she had ever seen so many people in one place at the same time. There were hundreds of them! There were merchant stalls lining the streets with people selling every kind of ware imaginable, many of them magical in nature. Shopkeepers were outside their stores yelling loudly, trying to get people into their shops.

The master threaded his way through the throng of people stopping every once in a while to sample a bite of food or to exchange pleasantries with another magister. Soon they stood outside an armor shop, "ah here we are then" the master said with a smile.

Hawke obediently followed the master and Fenris inside. The man inside immediately began fawning over Danarius as they entered. "Master Danarius, it is indeed a pleasure to see you as always" he said with a bow. "And this must be the guard that you sent word of."

"Indeed Cladus, I hope that you were able to make something suitable from the description in my letter?" The master asked. The man Cladus, bowed once more and said "I have fashioned some items as you requested, we will have to fit them to the girl and ensure they meet with your approval of course." Danarius smiled, he was in a good mood today, everything seemed to be going according to plan.

Hawke was led into a back room as Cladus yelled at his workers telling them to hurry up and bring the items he had made for the new slave. Most of Danarius' personal guard was left outside the room, with the exception of Fenris. Hawke was just thinking that the master must put a lot of trust in this slave as he never let him leave his side once they had left the estate. Either Fenris was so well trained that he thought that no one could get past him to attack or he believed that Fenris would willingly give his life before he would let the master come to harm. Both of these thoughts were disturbing to Hawke. She was beginning to believe that if he was around there would be no way she would be able to escape.

Her thoughts must have shown on her face because Danarius walked close to Hawke's side and said in a hushed voice "You should feel honored to be here. Cladus is the most skilled armorer in all of Minrathus and it is not often that one of my guards is given armor made especially for them." Hawke tried to smile at him to show the master she appreciated his efforts, but she didn't feel very grateful.

She was having a hard time resisting the urge to recoil from his closeness, she had learned enough of him over the last days and weeks to know that he was evil to the core. He was the kind of man who would smile and shake your hand even as he drove a blade into your heart.

Were all the magisters in Tevinter this twisted she wondered to herself. Surely these mages were the reason that the circles in Ferelden were created. She had often wondered if they were even necessary, it seemed cruel punishment to lock someone away just because they were born with the ability to shape the elements and use magic, but if this is what they would become without the chantry and templars to police them…

Being a mage herself and coming from a family of mages that always had to run and hide themselves she had believed that the chantry and the circles of magic were a prison, she herself was a mage and had no urge to turn to blood magic or dominate others. She was beginning to question many of the beliefs that she held her entire life. But there had to be a better way, some middle ground where mages were allowed to live free and yet not be tempted to turn into blood mages as they did here. The ramifications of her line of thinking was giving her a headache and she was almost glad when the armorer's assistants began poking and prodding her, taking her measurements and turning her this way and that.

She glanced at her master who was surveying the work and paid attention to what was happening around her. "These bracers will work best, now let us see what else you have to match it." Hawke's eyes grew large, the bracers he was referring to were shining silver and engraved with the most intricate pattern of swirls and circles carved in white, and she couldn't help but admire how beautiful they were. He must have paid the armorer a lot of money to make something like that.

She couldn't see the other pieces that they were discussing as one of the assistants chose that moment to place a measuring tape across her breasts and she frowned and fidgeted while they finished.

The conversation seemed to be coming to an end and Danrius was smiling widely as he said "Bring them to me as soon as they are finished, I will have to enchant them and then ensure that they will work properly." Cladus replied "as you wish" as he bowed low once more.

They left the shop as they came in, her in the back pulled by the chain with guards behind her. The master seemed to wander through the stalls on their way back, buying some things here and there and piling them into the waiting hands of the slaves. At one point one of the guards who was carrying the packages slipped and nearly tripped on something in the road and the master turned and slapped him hard across the back "do not drop anything, they are worth ten of you and I will have you punished if anything is damaged!"

The rest of the trip to the estate was uneventful, if hot. Hawke was still weak from the lack of food and was feeling the effects of the blazing sun, what she wouldn't give for a bath! Thankfully the slave quarters was in the basement and even though it was damp and smelly, at least it was cooler down here. The sun was nearly set by the time she was returned to her cell after her meager meal and once again she was left alone with only her thoughts for company.

Today had been strange, she wondered why the master would spend so much money outfitting her in fine armor. Up until today he had acted like he didn't care if she lived or died during the training and the testing. He must have something planned, but she had no idea what to expect next.

Fenris had said that the testing would determine whether or not the master would make her one of his bodyguards, but now that it was over nothing more was said. The other slaves didn't talk to her much because she was considered to be an outlander. Most of them spoke Tevinter anyway and she still had only managed to learn a few words and when she did try to speak to them they had laughed at her.

She decided that she would try to get more information from Fenris or Rinval as soon as the opportunity presented itself, but for now it was best that she took advantage of the time to rest.

Once Fenris' duties for the day were complete he too was allowed to return to his assigned cell, one of the other guards would watch over the her in his place and as he lay on his cot he considered the days events.

The master had chosen to purchase the best possible armor for her and he too wondered what he had planned for her. He had tried to remain distant from the new slave today, he did not even allow himself to look her in the eye. He was still confused by her and had thought that by ignoring her as he generally did with the other slaves he would banish the strange thoughts and feelings she seemed to stir in him. He thought that he could rid himself of them simply by willing them away.

As he lay there he admitted to himself that it had not worked. Even as he ignored her while she was in his presence, he found his thoughts returning to her now. He frowned into the darkness, what was it about this woman that she kept invading his mind no matter how much he tried to stop it. He wondered for a moment if she was using some kind of blood magic on him, but no, the master had not permitted her to use her magic since the testing. It had to be something else and he was determined to find out what it was.

He should hate her just as he hated all the other magisters. He was restless as he lay there and sleep eluded him, though his body was tired his mind kept returning to Hawke. He remembered the day in the training yard when she had touched his hand. He had felt no pain and decided that tomorrow he would try to find a way to touch her again to see if it would be the same. He sighed aloud while he considered these things and finally drifted into a fitful sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

A quick thank you to all of you who are following this story and those of you that reviewed. I do appreciate it, and I want to thank the person who pointed out that this story was listed incorrectly under the category of male Hawke. My Hawke is most definitely female. I deleted the e-mail by mistake and that is why I didn't thank you personally.

As always Bioware owns all characters etc. Enjoy!

~~~OoOoOo~~~

Chapter 16 – Allies and Enemies

The next day Hawke was summoned to the masters quarters. Perhaps she would finally find out what her duties would be, a shiver ran up her spine then, she hoped and prayed that it would only consist of guard duties and not something else entirely.

The master was sitting at a large oak desk as she was brought to his study, Fenris was standing quietly in the corner, his eyes downcast. He was so quiet and still that he almost blended into the background, he must do this a lot she thought, stand here still as a statue just waiting for Danarius to give him an order or a task to be completed.

The slave who led her into the room left as soon as they walked in and hurredly shut the door behind her. Hawke was left wondering what to do. No one paid any attention to her and she stood there feeling strangely out of place. Danarius was engrossed in reading something and he would stop and scribble on a nearby parchment occasionally and did not look up when she entered.

She glanced around the room, taking in her surroundings. The study was large and there were shelves of books and scrolls along every inch of wall behind the desk. On the other wall was a huge fireplace, big enough to stand in surrounded on either side by more shelves. There were no books though; there was what appeared to be a crystal ball, strange things floated in jars of fluid. Some of them looked to be creatures, she didn't recognize any of them though, they seemed to be strangely misshapen and twisted in some way. There were small statuettes and many bottles and jars in every color and size imaginable. There were also scales, a mortar and pestle, and what looked to be a sextant and other equipment that looked like it belonged on a ship and not in someone's study.

The room was oddly dark even though the sun shone brightly outside and there was a strong chemical odor in the room. Hawke looked toward Fenris, but he stood there as if a statue himself, never moving, not even a twitch of his fingers indicated that he was a living being. Hawke was starting to get antsy, no one had acknowledged her presence and she was beginning to wonder how long she would have to stand here and wait.

Was he testing her or was he simply so involved in his work that he hadn't noticed her enter the room? Should she say something? Hawke had no idea what to do, she glanced at the windows on the other side of the room, they were pitifully small in comparison to the room and they were shuttered closed at the moment. This man seemed to enjoy the gloom and shadows that were created by the unnatural light. The windows were set high up on the wall and she decided that even if they were open they could not let much light in.

She looked more closely at her master then, hunched over some scroll as he was at the moment. His skin was deathly pale, apparently he enjoyed the gloom and the shadows for it was obvious that he never spent much time in the sunlight.

She could no longer stand still and couldn't help but start to fidget. She picked at the fabric of her sleeves and her rustling finally made him lift his head from his work. "I know you are there slave, do not disturb me while I am working, I am in the middle of some very precise calculations and if you cause me to make a mistake because of your inability to remain quiet I shall have to punish you." He said this quietly but she heard the threat in his words.

She immediately stopped her fidgeting and tried to be still, she looked to Fenris who moved his head just enough for him to look at her from under his white hair. His look was harsh and she understood then how he could remain still for so long. His brows were drawn together and his face had a look that told her that both of them would be punished if she was not able to control herself.

The minutes ticked by and it was pure torture to Hawke. She was not accustomed to remaining still for so long and she felt as if she would burst into flames if it didn't end soon. Finally when she felt that she could stand it no longer the master sighed loudly, put down his quill and looked at her for the first time since she entered the room.

"Fenris, attend me" he motioned to him "my neck is sore from working so long." Fenris immediately straightened himself and came to stand behind his master and began massaging his back and shoulders to which the master groaned loudly.

He continued on and said "You have, no doubt been wondering why I summoned you here. I have decided that you must perform a service for me before I make you one of my honored guards." Hawke inhaled sharply and said a prayer to the Maker that the task would be one she was willing to complete. He waved Fenris away then and the elf took his place back in the shadows of the corner.

"There is a problem which I want you to deal with." He smiled broadly as he said this and got up from his chair and walked toward Hawke. He circled around her as he continued to speak. "I have been hearing some very disturbing news about one of the other Magisters, his name is Tobrias. He has been making serious accusations about me behind my back and I have decided that the time is right to do something about it."

Hawke merely gazed at her master as he continued to speak. "I have been invited to a party at another Magisters' estate and I have learned that Tobrias also will be there. This is the perfect opportunity to be rid of him and his lies and so I have decided that you will accompany me as my escort. We will be spending several days there and it should not be difficult for a woman to get close to him and get him to divulge his secrets."

"I'm not sure I understand what it is you want me to do" said Hawke, she noted the dark look that crossed his face as she said this and quickly added "Master" as she turned her gaze toward the floor. The master said "you are learning quickly it seems, it is a simple task my dear, you will find a way to get close to Tobrias and earn his trust so that you can give me the information I seek." Hawke kept her gaze toward the floor and waited for him to say more, but apparently he was finished with her.

"I will call for you and tell you more when the time comes, but know this." He stopped then and brought his hand to her face and lifted her chin so that he looked directly into her eyes as he spoke. "If you perform your duties as required your place among my guard will be assured, but if you fail, your punishment will be severe."

He dismissed Hawke then with a wave of his hand and turned his back to her as he walked out of the room. He called for his slaves and spoke to one in Arcanum who bowed quickly and hurried to carry out whatever orders he had been given.

Hawke stood there dumbfounded, she had no idea what this new turn of events would mean but there could be no doubt that she had to complete the task given to her. Her survival depended upon it.

Quiet as a shadow, she never noticed that Fenris had moved from his spot in the corner to stand in front of her. The look he gave her was difficult to read, but she understood clearly when he motioned for her to follow him from the room. They walked without speaking as she followed him through the many corridors of the estate back down to the slave quarters.

They stopped in the slave galley as lunch was still being given out and grabbed a meager meal of stale bread and broth with a few bits of something unidentifiable floating in it. When they took a spot at one of the tables Hawke could no longer hold back the questions that were floating around her mind.

"You know the master better than I do Fenris, what exactly will this task he spoke of entail? I'm not sure what he expects of me."

Fenris frowned and put down his food. He himself was unsure of what Danarius had planned for this slave, but he didn't want to tell her that. The fact that he was taking a slave to another Magisters party as an escort was highly unusual. He had never in all his time here heard him doing such a thing. He decided that the best way to deal with the situation was to give as little information as possible, in the coming days he might be able to learn more by observing and listening.

"I am a slave, just as you are and the master does not include me in his plans. I know nothing more than what you heard today." He said in a harsh tone, and said nothing more. He himself had no idea what the master was planning.

"But if he simply wants rid of this man, Tobrias is it, why doesn't he just send someone to kill him?" Fenris sighed, the woman was not going to let the subject drop it seemed.

"You are new to Tevinter, you do not understand the politics and maneuvering that goes on here. The master cannot kill him outright, otherwise, the senate would have to take action against him. No" he said this as if talking to himself "the master must have something else in mind, he wants to disgrace him utterly, in front of his peers."

"Still it seems like a lot of trouble when he could simply send an assassin after him."

"Perhaps you are confused, this is not Antiva, it is simply not the way things are done."

Hawke looked down at the table and wondered about her role in this charade, she hoped once again that what she was required to do would not cross the line and that she would be able to perform whatever duty Danarius wished of her without having to throw aside her conscience and her sense of right and wrong. If this man was truly as evil as her master she would have no problem discrediting him, but, then again her master was an evil magister and if she did his bidding did that make her no better than him. Or was there some sort of reprieve in the Makers eyes if she was only doing what was necessary to preserve her own life. Her mind was conflicted.

Fenris rose from the table then and stated that he had business to attend to and that she was allowed the rest of the day to herself. He warned her to stay out of trouble and be back in her cell by dusk then he stalked away.

She had no idea what to do with her free time and wandered the slave quarters observing and trying to learn her way around without getting lost. She overheard a group of slaves talking about their work in the gardens and remembered Kender saying that he worked there and decided to see if she could find him.

She followed the workers as they returned to work. Apparently the master was installing some new type of magical fountain that they were having difficulty with. They paid her no notice as they talked among themselves.

Before long she found herself in a huge garden with flowers and trees and fountains that spilled into pools. It was beautiful to behold. Never had she seen such a variety of plants and trees in one place. The magister seemed to spare no expense in making this a place of beauty and serenity.

For a time she merely wandered the paths here and there, admiring the flowers and wondered if they used magic to keep them blooming. Butterflies flitted among the blooms and Hawke found herself at peace for the first time since leaving Ferelden.

She found a group of workers weeding a flower bed and asked after Kender. They did not speak to her but pointed to a far corner in the garden. She eventually found him bent over a rose bush carefully pruning it, snipping off the spent blooms.

"So this is where you spend all your time." Said Hawke with a smile. He turned then and smiled back as he brushed the dirt off his hands. "Hawke, it is good to see you. I was glad to hear that you survived the testing at the arena." He sounded genuinely happy to see her.

"The world would have become darker at your passing, to lose one such as you simply to entertain the magisters would have been a tragedy." He said as he looked deeply in her eyes.

Hawke, for once, found herself at a loss for words. His deep amber eyes seemed to stir something within her that she thought had gone dormant long ago. She could not hold his gaze as she felt herself flushing and she looked down at her feet.

"Thank you Kender, for your kind words, it is easy to forget in this place that you have any worth beyond the tasks that you perform." There was an awkward silence between them as they both stood there not knowing what to say next.

It was Hawke who spoke first as she glanced around the garden, "so tell me about the gardens, do you have a favorite plant here." He smiled again and said emphatically "yes, come let me show you."

They walked a short distance as he told her the name of the various plants, until he stopped beneath a large tree and pointed upwards. "Do you see that flower growing up in the boughs of this tree?" She looked to where he pointed and saw a deep red flower growing on the tree, its roots curled up and around seemingly rooted to thin air.

"This is embrium, it is especially rare and hard to grow. It used to grow wild in the forests where I grew up back in Ferelden. They say it has many uses in poultices and the like, but the elves value it for something else entirely." Hawke was intrigued as she gazed at the flower, it was beautiful she thought. "What did the elves do with it?" she asked.

He seemed to pause a moment as if deciding if he should continue or not. Without saying anything further he deftly climbed the short distance and plucked one of the blooms and handed it to Hawke.

"Smell it" he said. Hawke brought the flower to her nose and did as he asked. Its smell was so intoxicating that she closed her eyes and imagined herself back in the forests of Ferelden for a moment. She saw flashes of memories of her family and couldn't help but smile to herself. When she opened her eyes again they were shining brightly as she looked at Kender.

"Its amazing isn't it" he said. "Everyone who smells it will experience something slightly different, thoughts of home or a loved one."

"Its wonderful Kender, thank you so much for showing this to me, but you haven't told me yet what the elves use it for." She said as she brought the flower to her nose once again.

He smiled slowly and said rather shyly "it is presented to a woman when a man wishes to make it known that he has feelings for her."

"Oh" said Hawke feeling rather embarrassed. "I had no idea." Kender waved his hand in a motion that brushed off her feelings of discomfort "we elves use plants to symbolize many things, and revere all life, whether it be in the form of an animal or a plant, each one is a gift from the Gods."

"Even the weeds?" Hawke said with a smirk. He laughed then, the sound was music to Hawke's ears, she hadn't heard anyone laugh in so long she had forgotten what it sounded like. "Yes, even the weeds, we do not plant things in rows or try to tame them as you humans do, we enjoy nature the way it was intended, free to roam where it wills."

They continued walking through the gardens talking and laughing until Hawke noticed that the sun was hanging low in the sky. She sighed loudly and Kender turned and looked at her questioningly.

"I was told to be back in my cell by dusk." She said in explanation. "Then you must return now, you cannot put yourself into a position that would require punishment from the master." He said this quietly, Hawke guessed that he had enjoyed their afternoon together as well, neither of them wanted it to end. It had been a long time since she had felt like a person and not a thing that was owned.

"I suppose I should be going now." She said as she moved her hand with the embrium flower as if to hand it over to him. "No" he said, "you keep it, let it remind you that not everything in Tevinter is to be feared or hated and that sometimes beauty can still grow amongst the thorns."

"Thank you for everything Kender, I have enjoyed our time together." "As have I" he said quietly as he reached for her hand and gently pulled it up to his mouth to kiss it. He stared at her intently for a few moments before he released her hand and said "you had best be on your way then."

"Yes" she stammered, and then turned and hurried back to the slave quarters. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. As she settled herself on her cot she put the flower to her nose again and inhaled deeply. For the first time since arriving in Tevinter her dreams were of forests and elves with large amber eyes.


End file.
